Bleep

Three years after his breakthrough with his album Saints, St. Petersburg’s Vlad Kudryavtsev returns to Hamburg’s Ki Records with his Monokle project. Rings, his second full-length for the label, features guest vocal performances by long-time collaborator Milinal and Moscow-based singer Gala Ga. Taking melancholic cues from its predecessor, it’s actually the instrumentals that live up to his earlier success: the progressiveness of the post-dubstep era hovers over the arrangements, which are largely driven by its propulsive, galloping rhythms.The vocal fragments and Four Tet-y synths of 'Loss’ initiate a nocturnal ambience. Throughout, Kudryavtsev sets the scene with injections of a densely layered ambient haze, interrupted by arpeggios of mallets, oscillating hymnal harmonies (‘Kay’), sharp cymbals cutting through lo-fi mechanic percussion (‘Holytin’).