Track Premiere: Sawi Lieu – “Circumstellar Life”

Sawi Lieu _1

When you think about progressive and challenging electronic music, would the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta instantly spring to mind as a birthing ground for some of the more fascinating takes on this ever shifting genre? Well, consider this notice given. Having come up together with a group of similar minded musicians and producers, Jakarta’s Sawi Lieu crafts electronic soundscapes that contort and expand in unexpectedly labyrinthine ways. Trading in modulated synths and decomposing beats, the songs on Lieu’s upcoming album Pasaraya, due out July 2nd via Constellation Tatsu, is a fractured look into one possible future for electronic music.

The latest track, “Circumstellar Life,” from the rising producer finds him turning aqueous synths and clacking percussion against each other in a constantly spiraling series of deconstructed rhythms. The ebb and flow of the track is such that each addition to the already complex structure adds fascinating detail to an elaborately mounted composition. The song runs through dozens of influences and often feels as though Lieu is purposefully compartmentalizing—though never in a restrictive way—the layers of sounds into interrelated mini-suites which intersect seamlessly.

Beats Per Minute is pleased to premiere the latest track “Circumstellar Life” from Sawi Lieu, taken from his upcoming album Pasaraya.