Ryan Lee West has been releasing music as Rival Consoles for a while now, growing more distinguished and accomplished with each step up to his excellent 2018 album Persona. This trajectory looks set to continue this summer when he will release a new album called Articulation, which he announces today along with sharing the title track. West gives some insight on the song “Articulation”, saying:
“The title track is about articulation and playfulness with shape and time. Its structure is very machine-like, but I was really interested in how melody and sense of story could develop out of this, and it became an exploration of mathematical structures – patterns and shapes having a conversation. I love that something on paper can appear rigid and calculated, but then take on new meaning based on the context that surrounds it, or how it changes over time.”
The mention of “mathematical structures” is enough to get people’s hackles up, but all it means is that Rival Consoles has put precision engineering into his music, and the sonic results speak for themselves. Far from a cold and calculated listen, “Articulation” bristles and thrums with life. Carefully carved percussive sounds ripple right out to the very edges of the sonic space, where they meet with gentle and melodic synths. “Articulation” has techno’s usual propulsion, but it’s not merely here as a pulse, as it keeps the production moving through a series of electro-acoustic sound tunnels, each casting their own hue over this living and dancing heart.
Rival Consoles’ new album Articulation comes out on July 31 via Erased Tapes. You can follow him on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
