Black Mirror Park delivers a driving and dubby EP with “Serotonin 5” for the 25th release on Entourage Concept.
Entourage Concept is a Berlin-based label run by the producer / DJ duo Antic Soul that focuses on a community of creatives dedicated to inclusion, self-expression, and unity through music: in particular, a groove-laden, energetic, and often dubby strain of Techno.
Celebrating the 25th release on their label with an ultra-limited run of 25 dubplates, the label called up Black Mirror Park, another DJ / producer also from Berlin, and a founding member of the Sonntagsinstitut Collective. Upon their return for their second EP on the imprint, Black Mirror Park masterfully crafts a set of original, all-thrills no-frills Techno tracks.
“Ningun” introduces the EP with beautifully filtered and modulated dubby chords drenched in reverb and delay. From then on, Black Mirror Park slowly steps on the gas. Listen to how the main groove builds up from simple syncopated kicks and toms, a lovely sub rumble, saturated snare splashes, and the steam-pressured sizzle from hi-hats. By the first breakdown about 2 minutes in, it is full-on peak-time vibes until some lush and blissed-out pads offer up a soft and pillowy comedown through the hazy and ravey atmosphere.
The title track, “Serotonin 5,” starts off with another rock-solid groove and gated bursts of trancey chords, but Black Mirror Park mixes it up a bit this round by chopping up a tastefully soulful vocal in the breakdown. Left alone with some bongos and heavily sidechained chords from before, the androgynous voice stutters off into a fractured yet intelligible “anybody- but- else- you.”
Anyone all about tribal Techno will be all over the third track, “Body Balm,” with a stripped-back melodic arrangement in favor of more up-front percs that form an enticing, ethereal, and hypnotic groove.
Closing out the EP is a remix of “Serotonin 5” by fellow Berliner and underground wonder, Introversion. By extracting the essence of the track and injecting a double dose of trance, Introversion demonstrates how to put a twist on things while staying true to the soul of the original.
Although the results are still inconclusive, a growing body of evidence in scientific research suggests that listening to music is one of the best antidepressants, so get in on a hit of that and give “Serotonin 5” a few spins.
-Alex Dahm
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