5 out of 5

Label: Analogical Force

Produced by: Jonny Moy

Vibing off an irrepressible beat across its four tracks, MOY’s Dark Frontier is a straight up acid bop romp, reminding of Ed DMX’s mastery of simple complexity – a basic structure that shows a mastery of balance and layering – as well as Ed’s old school / new school way of combining classic synth sounds with a modern composition style. Sometimes comparisons like this can be a knock, but in this outing, it’s nothing but praise: MOY reminds but is not the same, with each of Dark Frontier’s songs unique between themselves, but then also identifiable as the output of a singularly bright talent. And while context isn’t required to fall in love with this EP, the approach here seems both purposeful – it is distinct, sifting through MOY’s other releases – and a wild and logical branch off of the way the artist has been sharpening their electro / acid / IDM skills over a relatively short amount of time.

Dark Frontier’s title perhaps suggests something a bit grimier, but the landscape presented here is no less immersive, or interesting, rather presenting a sci-fi tinged world of discos and leaps in technology; the kind of sleek world being imagined in yellowed 50s pulp books, heard in the recording’s raw percussive and bass elements, but then given a cutting-edge wash of synths and club-ready bounce.

But an easier description is just to call this stuff fun. While non-stop high BPMs sounds tiring, MOY effects it gently, milking a lot out of slight changes in the beat and math-rock style pauses; just this base layer is listenable. Atop, though, the artist layers the most dancey synths or light ambient aspects, shifting us between comparatively “aggressive” acid workouts versus outright funky stuff that plays for anything – dancing, chilling, background, foreground…

Dark Frontier is one of the most exciting releases to come out of Analogical Force, further sharpening their IDM-focused roster to show off modern masters and not just Rephlex mimics, and then also just one of my favorite electronic releases, filling a nice cross-genre, cross-era niche that I didn’t even know needed filling.