Komon & Appleblim Know Yourself E?.?P

Following Swayzak’s Gestures Of A Sycophant, the third release on Beatnik Boulevard sees the return of Appleblim after he launched the label in style with the Conch Shell Motives EP. This time the Berlin-based producer is working alongside long-time collaborator and fellow Bristol bassweight alumni Komon – the duo have turned out EPs for Aus Music and Apple Pips in the past, but this 12” represents the first new material from them since 2014.

The heads-down, meditative lilt of Appleblim & Komon’s Bristol past looms in the shadows on this EP, but it’s shot through with a steely, modernist dance floor bite and high-end sound design. Know Yourself pivots around crafty, 2-step kinked drums but there’s plenty of space afforded to atmospheric synth surges that plunge the track into a mood-altering headspace just to the left of the conventional dance floor.

In a more overt step away from the club, Enigmatic Light finds the pair exploring reduced, experimental approaches without discarding their penchant for heavy drum pressure. The sparse but booming kicks and bass stabs provide a powerful anchor to the swirling array of melodic matter coursing through the track, striking the perfect balance between structured arrangement and free-flowing sonics.

Stepping Out Of Yesterday closes the EP out with a beautiful, crooked reflection peppered with rich, chiming dub ripples, out of which a sprightly acid line emerges to affirm the electronica leanings of the track, and the EP as a whole. It’s a fitting end to a record that sees both producers striking out into exciting territory where the moody soundsystem pressure of their past can coexist with the shimmering, psychedelic production that comes so naturally to them.