3 out of 5

Label: Analogical Force

Produced by: Diego Cadierno

While I’m finding different spellings, Navaras – the title of Promising/Youngster’s 2026 EP on Analogical Force – would seem to be a reference to the “nine emotions” evoked by / within Indian art and culture, accepting that this is surely a really poor attempt to summarize the concept. But if we can step back from the poorness of the attempt to accept, conceptually, that the term embraces a wide array of feelings, there’s irony in how monotone this release is. That’s not equivalent to boring, by any means, but the melodies and moods across these four tracks are so synced up as to come across as one extended song, and given that that song errs towards a kind of late-night club vibe… it’s easy to get a little snoozy while listening, and let some of P/Y’s most nuanced production to date slip by.

That was the quip last time: P/Y has met the promise, and is no longer a youngster – their sound had matured. Navaras feels even further on the other side of that; perhaps in trying to embrace the nine, varied emotions of navaras, P/Y over-stirred the stew: it’s almost too consistent to make each track distinct.

Percussion is a highlight throughout. From the clipped beats that kick off Stargaze to the blend of round and short sounds the percolate EP highlight Sparks, there’s a lot to appreciate in how much detail P/Y can give this one layer of the music. At the same time, once the main melody has been introduced, it’s kind of game over for most tracks, and we coast on good, even vibes for the next five minutes or so.

Promising/Youngster’s general blend of electro beats to memorable melodies has, to be fair, always required some patience to appreciate its depths. It’s a very familiar sound that is given identity in its subtleties. With Navaras, P/Y has gotten so good at doing that across the board that it can become a bit same-soundy, though we gotta give credit for that sound being something you can listen to for a good long while.