The Hacker – Laser & Smoke

The perfect mix of «cheeky» and «darkside» best describes this latest signing by electroclash figurehead The Hacker to Rekids, emulsifying two oppositely-humoured vibe mixers, like pink and green, horror and comedy. ‘Turborave’ and ‘Harmonia’ stir the pot from different points of view; the former uses pitched-down orchestral stabs, and the latter fires off laser-powered globs against cosmic, final-hurrah synths. The latter track, especially, is commendable for its squelch control, with said lasers firing at a ballistically variable harmonic frequencies in the breakdown; miraculously, all angles are housed in a slinky sonic wire casing, carefully conducted to tempt us to, but ultimately not, blow a fuse.