Christchurch,New Zealand's Social Sport has a knack for creating emotional electronic music. Namely, his first release on Echo Trains Records Lora/Lexa fervently blurs the lines between trance, UK garage and progressive techno. In two tracks, the EP makes you feel as if you're listening to the soundtrack of a science-fiction epic, questioning the relativity of time and space.
The EP's two tracks are like Yin and Yang: counterparts that must be experienced as such. Evidently, "Lora" is the Yang: a high tempo track imbued with saturated breaks that unveil over trance soundscapes. In addition, a heavily processed vocal flies over the track, unintelligible but the primary melody to grasp onto. On the other side, "Lexa" is the Yin: inward, dark and brooding. An arpeggiating synth underpins the track, filtered to the extent that it becomes akin to percussion. A typical trance beat drives the enigmatic track forward while manipulated vocals echo "end destination". Notably, Social Sport paired the two tracks together to convey an experience of "pharmacological intervention". Clearly, "Lora" provides relief without resolve, while "Lexa" focuses on sub-frequencies and elongated breaks.
ECH002 – Lora/Lexa is only the second release from the independent dance music label based in New Zealand. Honing in on a subset of electronic music that feeds into emotional, vocal-heavy trance and breaks, Echo Train Records is one to watch as 2020 unfolds.
