Wingz is one of the unsung heroes of minimal D&B, with tracks on all the deep bass labels from IN:DEEP Music to Flexout to Mainframe to Music Squad. He’s important not just in D&B circles but in the larger bass music scene as well, having been remixed by Vorso, InsideInfo, Mystic State and Solace and having remixed the likes of Black Barrel and Spire, to name a few.
It’s been nine months since his last EP on Overview Music called Sorrow, but Wingz has still been smashing out tracks on various labels since. The dual single “Distress”/”Resistance” out on Music Squad this past Friday, is the most recent link in the chain an quite a strong one at that.
As soon as “Distress” opens, fans will recognize Wingz’s unique snares and minimal beat and sound design. The main synth in this track is also technically the bassline, with those ticking snares taking up most of the rest of the foreground. Wispy, wind-like swells of tone make up the ambient space. It’s a deceptively simple track, but the complex sound design and Wingz’s playing with tone and the open space between beats and notes is what makes”Distress” such a vibe.
“Resistance” has those same snappy snares that fans have come to know and love from Wingz, but it’s still a completely different track. Much more open spatially, the bass synth here accounts for more of the foreground sound but it’s also not consistent. It’s almost intelligent-sounding (in that it sounds like a bass synth from 90s intelligent drum and bass, where the synth could be actually saying words). It’s a deep, scratchy, Orc voice of a bass synth and it’s inserted at strange intervals not only to keep the track open and minimal in the face of so much bass, but to scramble the track and make something different out of that minimal space. Again, masterful sound design from Wingz and truly what minimal D&B is about.
It probably goes without saying that just as with many of his most popular tracks, producers will want to remix “Resistance” and “Distress.” The stems in these tracks are about as clean as anything you can find in any genre. In the meantime, however, it’s nice to appreciate a couple sliced of dark, minimal D&B. It’s relaxing yet aggressive, interesting yet steppy and definitely done great justice by one of its masters, Wingz.
“Distress” and “Resistance” are out now on Music Squad and can be streamed or purchased by clicking here.