After almost 10 years of making music together, Barcelona-based duo Downliners Sekt have finally found their place in today’s international electronic music panorama. It took them six years to release their third full-length album, Silent Ascent (2014, InFiné,), and it’s an upgrade of the sound they developed on their recent trilogy of EPs, but made with more finesse and sophistication. It’s also a far cry from the music they used to make back then when they were a bigger collective, influenced by genres from post-rock to drum & bass to shoegaze, and more.
A few days ago they shared the album’s opening song, “Soul Débris,” and it’s a magnificent representation of the overall sound of the album. Hazy clouds of side-chained white noise and vinyl pops and cracks delicately cover the fast-tempo, IDM-infected beat, and the spoken word samples give it an eerie vibe. The result is a dark, classy track, ideal for a late-night dancing session. This song, and the album in general, would sit perfectly in the current Warp catalogue.
Silent Ascent is out on April 7th. Listen to “SoulDébris” below, and stream the entire album here.