Hyperstellar

Like the morning sun penetrating a Winter sky, a shimmering frost flecks the brightness of “Message to Nowhere”.

The four tracker showcases the sound of Ruben Benabou’s Hyperstellar nom de plume, a sound that draws inspiration from sci-fi soundtracks and the warmer currents of electro. Refracted bleeps introduce the title piece, shorn beats cutting through glowing synthlines as the EP takes flight. Tight terse drum patterns are the launchpad from which melodies sail and swoop in “Words in a Void”, bittersweet strings and warbling pads bending and shifting above juddering basslines. Fellow Frenchman, and all-round electro virtuoso, The Hacker remixes “Message to Nowhere”. Pulling the track toward the centre of the floor, scissoring snares slice through echoing notes and silken shrouds in this machine funk remake. Temperatures rise for the close. Bold key changes and snapping rhythms gather in “A Thousand Nights”, a lively late evening close to a quartet of sheer quality.