Marc Romboy – Elka EP (These Eyes)

Marc Romboy is a techno chameleon. When he releases on Bedrock his style seems to effortlessly slip into the label landscape. The same when on Kompakt Extra and Systematic and so it goes. It’s testament to the man’s ear and experience, nay pedigree that allows him to understand and interpret how the sum of the parts make the whole and piece together the relevant techno bomb to drop on his unsuspecting audience.

It’s much the same for André Hommen’s These Eyes imprint, although for me it’s altogether a finer-tuned, more artisan offering, refined in taste and delicate in balance. Much slower and more melodic, almost Balearic in style, slightly wonky but carrying bags of groove – what you need to know about this release is it has feeling, stacks of soul and a nod back to the day when sweat dripped off the ceiling and onto the Technics.

‘Elka‘ is a growling bear of a track, riding through its underlying sinister analogue underpinnings it builds through layer upon layer of melody, synths, analogue, bassline, never really losing that all important momentum. When the melancholic piano kicks in at about 4 minutes I’m at Burning Man dancing beneath the stars with a thousand other galaxy exploring dropouts letting the bass shudder through my system. ‘Elka’ is epic in the most underground way.

‘Unreal Sun’ is a ride on a rollercoaster through a hot Californian day, it’s a car journey through the Stelvio Pass, a moment in time that changes your perspective. The off-kilter synths, the sub-bass, the undulating lead, it’s so simple, but oh all too much. These are the moments life is made for, living at its finest.

Yes Marc Romboy is a techno Stalwart, but this is surely his finest offering, left of field and pure in spirit. Miss this, you guessed it, at your peril. What a fine, fine offering and one of the best sleepers of the year for me.

Score: 9.5/10

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