Get prepared to break a sweat with ‘Subliminal’, the rave-bound techno EP from Melbourne-based producer, Sean Sever.
Melbourne-based DJ and producer Sean Sever has taken us to an underground club with his recent EP ‘Subliminal’.
Arriving in February, the four-track collection of club beats sees Sever — originally from Johannesburg — play with highly synthetic sounds and raw hypnotic techno, kicking things off with the infectiously pulsating opener ‘Reverie’.
Some musicians might think of a reverie alongside sunny guitars or vocal melodies, but Sever’s vision is decidedly grittier, roaring onto headphones a thumping beat and bouncy rhythms.
While foot-tapping beats remain a throughline across the entire tracklist, Sever adds texture to his production with whirring synths and ambient flourishes, giving songs like ‘Reverie’ a feeling of spaciousness.
It’s hard not to imagine yourself placed directly in a boiler room moshpit while listening to ‘Subliminal’, and Sever has clearly mastered the staples of his genre.
There’s loop-based arrangements and ample synthetic textures, and he compliments this with sonic flourishes like glitchy sound effects and futuristic synths.
On ‘Dissolution’, the producer dives deeper in raw techno, with brooding beats and drum machines so catchy they’ll bounce around your head for days.
Electronic keys get their moment to shine on ‘Shadows’, delivering a thunderous pulse that can only be described as bone-rattling. The snares on this track pull focus, and are accompanied by percussive moments that are destined for a rave-bound boogie.
Sever’s efforts culminate on EP closer ‘Mirage’, a fittingly-titled track that feels like a fever dream of jungle-like rhythms and jittering synths seemingly pulled from a sci-fi film.
All in all, ‘Subliminal’ is a sweaty, ravey and deeply textured body of work, and certainly has this writer wondering when Sever will be headlining a boiler room of his own.
Head to the club with Sean Sever’s EP ‘Subliminal’ below.
