EP Review: Blankspace.

20 year old producer DeLaye creates music that defies easy description. Inhabiting the experimental electronic space pioneered by the likes of Aphex Twin and championed by modern masters such as Flying Lotus and Four Tet, his music features fat glitch-hop bass kicks and chopped beats anchoring sonic explorations that ebb and flow with intent. Flow is a key word for his Blankspace. EP, which according to the press release is inspired by the artists’ own journey with “anxiety, flow-state and out-of-body experiences.” Despite a lack of lyrics, these themes manage to be conveyed in the almost hypnotic effect the tunes have on an engaged listener.

Opener Time Tunnel starts with strange mechanical clinking and shimmering over discordant prangs that resolve into a stuttering beat, constantly mutating while still retaining a strong identity. In Euclidea, fragmented shards of melody morph and swirl around jittery percussion, building to a mid-point dropout before a stomping finish.

Gravity leads with a tough, glitched-out beat that quickly recedes into sheets of industrial haze before returning with a snarl, while the largely ambient Port 3.0 similarly builds with ambient clicks and a throbbing pulse into a wonky, woozy, dream-like beat.

Final track Destination rounds out the EP with more of the same, chopped and screwed melodies twisting and turning around glitch beats. At the breakdown, a disembodied voice intones “time to wake up,” a nod toward the dream-state effect DeLaye’s music can induce. He’s clearly a gifted artist and with time on his side, it’ll be fascinating to see what other cutting-edge, meditative art he releases into the world.