Upfrontbeats

Shelley Johannson

- Tribaltone EP

Bedrock | 08.01.2018

John Digweed’s Bedrock kick-starts what will no doubt be another exceptional year for electronic music, with a label debut from Canada’s Shelley Johannson. A chance meeting with John at last summer’s Veld Festival led to the Toronto-based artist exchanging emails and sending him some new tracks she’d just finished. The rest, as they say, is history. Undoubtedly, Shelley is an upcoming future star of the ever inventive and evolving global Techno scene, having previously impressed with releases on Sian’s Octopus Recordings.

For people with open minds and open ears, electronic music doesn’t really have borders – blurring boundaries is a given – unrestricted creativity and experimentation is what allows artists to make exceptional music that becomes timeless and treasured. Shelley Johannson is cut from the cloth of the new generation of global techno artists who channel the spirit of classic and timeless music, update it and create new boundless possibilities for the future. Her inimitable dancefloor-driven attitude showcases a creative palette that stands for pure quality and originality, as she boldly walks her own path towards a very bright and highly creative musical future.

Shelley’s EP opens with the heavy kick-led, stripped-back, fizzing percussive energy of ‘Broken City’, a track topped with a healthy dose of analogue squelch and deliciously evocative vocal snippets. ‘Nocturnal Bright’ maintains the focus on a powerful percussive groove, but ups the energy levels and adds some delightful melodic beauty to the proceedings. ‘Slow Rise’ rides a tricky tightrope – building tension to superb effect as the dark’n’dirty beats spark subtle melodic motifs throughout, creating a distinct emotive edge. Closing out the EP perfectly, title track ‘Tribaltone’ is an ever-evolving, percussive workout par excellence as it fires a furnace of energy for an impressive finale.