Aloka – View Source (HAWS007) (2021 Repress)

Now with a steady accumulation of exciting names in their back catalogue and hammering along their stride, Cardiff-based event promoters and label Haŵs welcomes Aloka to the household. For the imprint’s 7th release comes the interplanetary ‘View Source’ EP, an arsenal of controlled chaos via four essential, dark electro cuts.

The titular ‘View Source’ is a vicious opener, brandishing its pummelling acid and muscular drums with a snarl. There’s no retraction of the hostility when it moves to ‘Blind Spot’, however, whose sinister drones take flight like birds of prey over the percussion and synths that squirm as though they’re being targeted down below.

The flip side introduces ‘Red Shift’, a vehement stomper with a proud disposition and a classic electro beat, its acid-lines flaring up in a temper-tantrum of robotic aggression. Finally, the attack is subdued. The EP finishes on a more melodic close with ‘Enigma’, a drowsy, rich soundscape of atmospherics that seem to fall in slow motion. There’s a real sense of space with this finale; recurrent flares of synths stammer over the languorous bassline, withdrawing and emerging like the gasping embers of a fire in a vast room. A final breath extinguishes the flame.

Electro has many flavours, and Aloka traverses this palette with ease from its gritty peaks all the way down to its melancholic depths.