Chrizpy Chriz has been on the radar of many a label and music journalist since his first tracks came out ThazDope and Gravitas in 2016. This year the buzz machine has sped up even as his beats have stayed the same tempo, garnering attention from the MethLab and VALE imprints and featured not once but twice on Noisia Radio. Now seems like a perfect time to drop an EP into the afore-mentioned buzz machine, and that’s just what Chrizpy has done. Behold: Retrieving Light.
Despite being from North America, Chrizpy has some killer Euro-style halftime beats and sound design. With so much glitch, tech and distortion in such a slow format, it’s hard to keep the production sounding clean, but he does it. Today’s Bassrush premiere track, “Dreadly Wook,” showcases Chrizpy’s composition and production chops and much more.
Despite its fun name, which belies Chrizpy’s wooky Canadian desert hippie roots, “Dreadly Wook” is a massively techy undertaking with tricky syncopation, a jazzy snare, and a lot of sine wave play. The track starts off sounding almost drone-like or at the very least quite soundsystem-esque. From the intro there’s an audible tune up and the single snare and analog drum beat are made more complex with a slow hip-hop-style drum beat. The bassline also comprises most of the melody and some minimal synths are used for ornamentation but the real fun is in the phrase transitions and the ambient sound design.
The track is broken up into many sections and composed like a pop tune in the sense that after the intro, the two main sections alternate equally like a verse and chorus would until the end of the track. No matter what segment “Dreadly Wook” is in, however, it’s accompanied by ambient sounds that almost sound like movie effects; so clean and analog-inspired are they. A sine wave phrase transition, however, is the main surprise of the piece, being in a very low range and full of distortion and static. Listeners will find themselves waiting for this bit to come around each time, as it’s a level of bass so thick that it settles in one’s chest along with the heaviest of heavy sub bass that drones and rolls throughout the track. Look out SHADES, someone else has mastered the brown note.
The rest of Retrieving Light folds in with “Dreadly Wook” and it’s clear Chrizpy wanted the EP to be cohesive all the way through. For his highly-anticipated first multi-track effort, this halftime upstart does not disappoint.
Retrieving Light is out Monday, June 24 on VALE recordings. It can be pre-ordered and eventually streamed on VALE’s Bandcamp and will also be available on Beatport and other major outlets on the drop date.