Ephera – Ecstasy

January 1, 2013 • self-released

I'm always a bit hesitant to really get into amateur electronic music, because more often than not it's total garbage (too many kids in too many bedrooms thinking it's easy when it's not). But sometimes, as evidenced by my previous Ephera review and this one, there's gems to be had. The duo has progressed and matured a bit this time around, and the end result is all the better for it. Ecstasy is chock full of great beats and a great atmosphere not to be found in many other places.

Ephera's main draw hasn't changed a bit, its rainbow of electronic dance styles stripped down and fused together with the same trademark style on the debut. Though it takes cues from cold, clinical genres like dubstep, future garage, and the like, Ephera's sound is again warm and welcoming. The shimmering, hazy atmosphere punctuated by tick kick beats and quick hi hats, combined with video-game-like synth lines—often highly complex and still very melodic—it's all very well-composed. The sort of "space trap" style (similar to, but not the same as, cloud rap) is fairly unique and I really like what I'm hearing.

And while Home was a bit idiosyncratic and never could seem to settle on a style, Ecstasy is thankfully a bit more consistent in its textures and sounds, eking ever-closer to that magical point where an album is consistent without being too samey or too diverse. They're not quite there yet, but this is a big step up. It helps that many of the songs revolve around a specific hook or sample and build on that, anchoring them down and making the tracks a bit more memorable. It probably also helps that there's a personal association I get with a lot of the tracks—the opening to "Stigma" reminds me of Fuck Buttons, while the middle of "Paranoia" reminds me of a song from Earthbound (I think), just to name two. Pretty neat (but that's just me).

Anyway, this is a great sophomore effort and Ephera is on a great trajectory. Definitely a good listen for fans of more cerebral-yet-dancy electronic stuff (again, Clark comes to mind). Let's hope they can keep it up.

7