London based label Unchartered Audio’s latest (and last) release of 2014 comes from Finnish progressive electronic producer Ukkonen and his EP ‘Change Time’. It’s his fifth release for Unchartered and here he’s pushing his own style to further places while creating new moods that his music only tapped on quietly before within the bigger beats of 2012’s brilliant ‘The Isolated Rhythms Of’ also on Unchartered Audio.
These four tracks all showcase a subtle change in tone to that record; his off-kilter sense of rhythm is here plenty but the feel is slightly more understated, all tracks are beautifully constructed arrangements that maintain a serene flow for the listener to fully immerse themselves in from start to finish. There is a more minimal feel to this than his earlier wax that will have the ‘Arctic-House’ tag line looping your head afterwards.
On first listen, opening track ‘First Lunation’ starts with a three chord piano motif that would find a home on any classic house tune but here it’s been re-wired, dismantled and placed somewhere alien, surrounded by unfamiliarity that gradually becomes submerged until the whole thing becomes one complete sound, like the stages of a morphing period that slowly builds. Loops poly-rhythmically glide in and out of each other, synth’s change lanes, direction and speed yet meet at points til the moments in the track where all sounds squeeze into the body, a constantly moving vehicle being provided by the bass line and kick drum that always maintains its monotonous yet jittery path.
The subtle ‘Tonal Syzygy’ is reminiscent styles buried within from early house, minimal techno and its staccato melody even relives elements of classical string composition. All together with its un-streamlined beat and stabbing synth it evokes a sort of motion that isn’t clear, a movement in short frames, then it sneeks by quickly.
Third track titled ‘Agogic Helia’ is cagey euphoria that is both soothing and pro-active, with a broken techno feel to rhythm that swings in and out. Reminiscent of early Rephlex releases, it combines other worldly bleeps and earthy synth expansion that provide an inner ear massage while the listener is still mentally on the move within the rhythm.
Closing the EP is the title track that begins with a more familiar rhythm than most although still prominent is that feeling of disconnectedness. A relatively short piece, coming in around the 2:30 mark, this track keeps it even more subtle. With the melody kept simple and almost childlike, ‘Change Time’ is a reflective track that soothes whilst never switching off the listener’s attention.
Since releasing 2013’s more jazzy and fragmented ’The Ancient Tonalities Of’ album Ukkonen has returned to his original home in Finland and has clearly been hard at work refining his direction in his music. We feel this new EP could be the taster of even finer things to come. An exciting producer who refuses to sit still, his reluctance to be pigeon holed is what clearly keeps things interesting for Ukkonen so who knows what he will creatively morph into next, but for now ‘Change Time’ is definitely worth a listen: a highly memorable listen that will want to be listened to again immediately, like an inspiring train journey that ends too soon.
Available on a transparent and white splatter-effect 10″ record cut to a 12″ vinyl, take a look below and pick up a copy from the Unchartered Audio shop here.
