Bleep

Up to this point, Khotin hasn’t been the type to stay in one place musically for too long. After critical acclaim for his floor fillers brought him to the heart of the world’s underground dance scene by 2015, the Canadian shapeshifter gradually pivoted to the more serene side of things before issuing 2018’s course corrective LP New Tab. That record’s luxurious downtempo sway (and the even more laid-back follow up Beautiful You) was seen then as mere detour following an overwhelming period of DJ bookings, but it appears as though Khotin has found a foothold in the calm. His latest LP Release Spirit once again returns to a gentler palette, brushing against ambient and dub techno, but ultimately in pursuit of something a little more nebulous. As its title suggests, there is some otherworldliness peaking just beyond the horizon here, but it's best to just bask in its beauty.

Opening with the slow-building ‘HV Road’, Release Spirit comes to rise like a late morning on a vacation, the sun and surf beckoning behind the pulled down shades. Other tracks like the slow motion acid of ‘Home World 303’ and ‘Computer Break (Late Mix)’ flirt with the dancefloor but are far too beautifully slackend to really get bodies moving. Late album highlight ‘Techno Creep’ is also a bit of a misnomer as its wheezing almost sitar-like melodies float much closer to psychedelia. The album’s lone guest Tess Roby adds breathy incantations to its most muscular number ‘Fountain, Growth’ to wonderful effect, while the closing ‘Sound Gathering Trip’ is as advertised: a sonic feast that expands and contrasts like wind in a sail.