Bleep

After launching the Brainwaltzera name in 2016 under a shroud of mystery on SoundCloud, the still-anonymous artist is looking to get personal. On ITSAME, Brainwaltzera gives us an introspective glimpse into the very private happenings of his past four years, constructing intricate sonic worlds with heartfelt intimacy.

Since his debut full-length Poly-Ana was included in our top 10 albums of 2017, Brainwaltzera has hardly made himself scarce. He followed up with a very generous offering of ten releases in the years since, maintaining a clip of at least one EP per year. His long-awaited follow up album ITSAME comes with the promise of a closer look at the enigmatic artist, inspired by “navigating the turbulent waters of personal crossroads with cautious optimism for an uncertain future.” Far from pursuing a bleak outlook, however, this album is genuine and bright, a defiant refuge from the surrounding chaos.

Where his interests had spread from electronica revivalism to nostalgic takes on ambient and braindance in the past, ITSAME absolutely sprawls with seventeen tracks that were given the space to be reshaped and inspired by events during their composing. “Windows and microphones were left open, loved ones roamed freely, while TVs and other household machinery resonated at subtle frequencies.” It’s here where we get a sense for the man behind the mystery; the album flows like an audio diary, drifting from moments of domestic stillness to vivid eruptions of sound provided in part by the chance recordings wafting throughout.

Opening with a workout of jittery breaks like crisp outdoors air on the title track, Brainwaltzera settles into a heartfelt, reflective lane, lit up by the bubbling and chirping dawn chorus and warm chords that well up with them. With a slippery synth as complex as its subject line, ‘Fwd: Re: late (Ref.: karoshi)’ settles into a more solemn and mystifying vibe, splitting atoms with its wobble, wah, and snaps. He explores elements of spacious post-rock on ‘PROVE UR NOT A ROBOT [SKIP]’, its human touch providing a warm answer to the title’s command with calming guitar tones like skipping stones across a lake.

As soon as the strutting kicks open on ‘(g)Raveyard tools’ you know a dancefloor weapon is incoming. Its growling bassline rolls throughout, ruptured by the flashes of serrated, lightning strike synths. ‘Reptikon 7’ takes a more glitched out approach, like a machine powering up with its sputtering drums, morphing between strains of haziness and fury in its contorted dance cinematics. Amongst entrancing, reverberant, and stormy tracks is the emphatic ‘consent’, metalwork clattering in between its sweet synth shimmers.

Brainwaltzera often pairs soft waves of synths with harshly cut up breaks and distorted punches. With these constant jumps between serene braindance atmospherics and explosive club bangers, ITSAME perhaps speaks to how multifaceted we as people can be, holding multitudes of sounds and moods inside. Braindance itself is a highly versatile scene, with labels he has previously released on like Analogical Force and Furthur Electronix all championing their own unique takes, very few artists work with the penchant for sound design that is abundant throughout this album.

While Poly-Ana had no shortage of introspection, ITSAME unabashedly balances futuristic technical vision with emotive melodies, bringing us closer to knowing the enigmatic Brainwaltzera while continuing to live in a mystery of his design.