“Because of course they did,” should be the answer to why NËU, the label Misanthrop and Phace transitioned the erstwhile Neodigital Recordings to late last year, decided to premiere one of the two tracks on Phace and Signal’s forthcoming single on their own on YouTube. NEU002 is out January 26, and as Misanthrop and Phace build this brand it’s likely us mere DnB mortals can expect more surprises like the early YT release, because for this duo, 2018 is all about doing things exactly as they want. At the very least with “Consonance” on NËU’s channel, we can expect many upcoming releases may look like this, and perhaps that NËU may twist one of its legs into a UKF sort of thing. Whatever the case, at least “Consonance” is out.
“Consonance” is a powerful track, to say the least. It stands to reason with neuro powerhouses like Phace and Signal on the case, but there’s a lot of different elements to this track as well. The opening synths, for example, have a tube amp quality to them that’s surprising, especially when the bass synths drop on top of it. This track was clearly built with Phace’s classic layering technique (this guy may have missed his calling as an artisan burrito chef), but beyond that it’s hard to tell which parts are which producer, as it should be with a good collab.
Another interesting and surprising bit in “Consonance” is the sudden appearance of what sounds like a digital harpsichord in the break, which is accompanied by a blaring guitar sample. That bit truly has to be heard to be appreciated, and literally the only producers who could possibly pull that off are these two. By the way that’s not to say that the drums, sub bass and bass synth aren’t interesting. Without those elements, neuroheads and jump up fans would definitely be into this track, but Phace and Signal have taken it to the next level by layering in these other aspects.
So now it’s two weeks until NEU002 is out and suffice it to say that the other track on the single, “Locust,” stands up to “Consonance.” The dual single is out January 26 on NËU. Pre-order link here.