If you’ve been even mildly familiar with dubstep or bass music in the past few years, chances are you have heard, celebrated or more likely played out one of Flux Pavilion’s championed tunes. His discography of remixes and originals has consistently garnered fame for its ability to abolish the often distasteful edge of dubstep all the while maintaining his signature taste of epically profound bass.
In the wake of his ‘Blow The Roof EP’ and the closing of his massive stateside ‘Freeway Tour’, Flux Pavilion is back in the limelight once again with his aptly named, ‘Freeway EP’. Although, in many regards, his ‘Freeway EP’ has not generated the buzz and anticipation that surrounded the release of ‘Blow The Roof’, after multiple listens, I am convinced that in many regards, ‘Freeway’ is a much stronger testament to Flux Pavilion’s creative genius and dexterity across all genres.
To kick things off, ‘Freeway’, jolts into motion with Flux’s collaboration with Dim Mak kingpin, Steve Aoki, cleverly titled “Steve French”. To be honest, when I first heard the stream of this record, I immediately thought that the addition of Aoki’s name was merely an excuse for Flux to experiment with a new genre and not catch as much flack from his more devoted bass music fans. Whether my initial hunch is true or not, the fact of the matter is “Steve French” is an infectiously catchy electro tune that will be played out for many months to come. A driven electro beat bolsters much of the weight building and blossoming into a frenzy of crunchy bass and animated synth lines.
From “Steve French”, Freeway cruises on with the record, “Gold Love”. “Gold Love” is a much more traditional Flux Pavilion track that weaves the vocals of Rosie Oddie over an expertly constructed foundation of sweet buildups and epically heavy drops. The third track of the release, and arguably the most buzz worthy, “I’m The One”, is Flux’s first released collaboration with moombahton heavyweight and EDM class clown, Dillon Francis. To no surprise, the mixture of Flux’s sonorous bass and Dillon’s unrivaled juxtaposition of aggressive yet bubbly synths, is a clear recipe for success.
The EP concludes with the two tracks, “Mountains and Molehills” and “Freeway”. “Mountains and Molehills” is yet another more traditional Flux Pavilion record. In similar fashion to “Gold Love”, “Mountains and Molehills” supports the emotive vocals of Turin Breaks with an sonic backbone of uplifting builds and crashing bass. “Freeway” on the other hand, highlights a sound that I found to be much more noteworthy. Reinventing and highlight the myriad of Flux Pavilion’s now signature sounds in a completely new light, “Freeway” melds a much more relaxed bassline of subtle bass with Flux’s own vocal top-line to brilliantly conclude an EP that pushed not only the tempo but also the confines of bass music as a genre.
Listen to the full stream of the EP below and pick up your copy through iTunes here.