After impressing with their debut on Stroboscopic Artefacts' digital-only Monad series in 2016, Charlotte Isabelle release Hopis EP on new label Lemme Records, this time on wax.

    First up, titular track Hopis begins in a rural setting—a morning stroll through the woods (a field recording that we hear again when the track breaks, and then again, right at the end)—but no time is wasted in kicking us back into urban reality with what could best be described as a satisfying chug of antiquated rolling stock; unrelenting and hypnotic, this is retro-industrialism, 21st century style. Deimos next promotes a testimonial of Latin flavors and launches them into uncharted territory; never before has samba sounded so sexy, so sophisticated, or so serious—it's an obtuse techno from another world. Everything about Haumea is clean and clinical, with kicks as dead as a morgue and hats as sharp as scalpels it feels as though the guys are performing a digital autopsy; it's an unabashed surgical deconstruction of dub techno, all its components are laid out and rearranged in an utterly unique way. On Moso, a tight bass drum juggles electro acoustic noodling, treated bongos, gongs and wooden tribal percussion vie for your attention with concrete sounds and industrial ambiance.

    It really wasn't my intention to keep this review so short and sweet, but it's just as well because there aren't many words that could do it justice, rarely do you come across a record that is so daring, so singular, so uniquely beautiful as this is. Techno has evolved greatly over the last two decades and can undoubtedly be a very sophisticated art form, but never before have I heard it compressed and contorted in so many weird and wonderful ways over just four tracks—all the more impressive given this French duo are relative newcomers. Seriously fellas, what have you got for us next!

Release Type: EP

Release Date: 4 May 2017

Release Format: Vinyl

Record Label • Catalog: Lemme Records • LEMME001

Purchase Links: Juno • Redeye • HHV • Bordello A Parigi • Decks • Deejay