2 out of 5

Label: Local Action (digital release)

Produced by: 96 Back

Though not a poor outing, I’m just not sure it makes much sense altogether.

After a run of Rephlex-heavy action and some quirkier acid, Evan Majumdar-Swift – 96 Back – began more actively massaging in other electro genres, aiming towards a style that could stretch across both glitch workouts and more melodic fare. ‘Flex Time’ is part of that journey, taking a stab at vocal collabs via some hip-hop tracks with Cadence Weapon and Iceboy Violet. While the beats here are pretty good (somewhat Two Fingers / Amon Tobin-adjacent), it’s a bit too much like a guise Evan is trying on to see how it fits. Cadence’s smooth, literate ping-pong flow absolutely carries opener Coup de grâce, and there’s quirk in Evan’s music, but again, it doesn’t necessarily have the sparkle of inspiration of other 96 tracks; it’s a bit rigid.

Followup ambient track Tired Angel feels like a hard course correction; like Majumdar-Swift hitting the ABORT button on hip-hop and diving into something emotive, but it’s overly so: the track is too sedate when held alongside Coup, which followup interstitial ‘Note to Self’s minute or so of manipulated strings an equally puzzling inclusion that’s maybe just a coda to Tired Angel.

Plucks feels like the best balance: it’s got some hip-hop vocal samples but feels linked back to the hefty club beats of some prior releases; closer Y I’m Here somewhat maps this to rapper Iceboy Violet’s stutter-step delivery, getting us closer to a more cohesive blending of 96 Back + a guest artist, but Iceboy’s style is so particular compared to Cadence’s that the EP really could’ve used one more track to balance it out. As is, the EP is offers too little of any one thing to really get a read on what it’s about, a confusing sequencing, and no real standout singles that call out for relistens.