Kmyle matches big, bold, and beautiful with the paired-down techno sounds of Electric Rescue’s Skryptöm label with his latest release, “Mind Games.”
From one of Kmyle’s earliest releases, back in 2017, on Skryptöm to now again releasing on the label in 2025, we can still see Kmyle’s passion for big lush sounds that have been a defining characteristic of his music. At times, it bordered on tamed and restrained progressive, to sensible and genre-spanning electronica, pushing the techno envelope with borderline tech-trance on his Kmyle label imprint.
At all times, however, the production aesthetic has been overflowing and lush. Certainly not “raw” in any sense of the word—they are well-thought-out spaces of intrigue and heartfelt landscapes to fall into—where every element is balanced harmonically to the highest degree.
What keeps them in the techno realm seems to be the consistent intellectual challenge and tension in all Kmyle’s releases. There’s a concerted effort not to go full overboard and pull in the reins, so to speak, so that things don’t go into cheesy territory and remain serious examples of hypnotic and harmonically treated techno that only progresses where it needs to, to keep things interesting.
The very epic and immensely powerful track on this release, titled “Marecage,” is a true example of this… where there are long overrun, possibly time-stretched arpeggios over short arpeggio patterns, for characteristic techno polymeter. And the focus is still on the drums, where this giant atmospheric wash soars in the background, like a sunset over darkened hills. Similar artists in this vein have been Inigo Kennedy’s work on Token, where the epic is tempered by hard and mildly aggressive beats.
The tracks “Tecerakt” and “The End” also play with these loose arpeggio or similar sequenced lines, but create a unique twist, as the oscillator pitch is detuned in time, by hand, or with LFO in the synth. This has been a sort of taboo in electronic music, since it’s difficult to maintain harmonic relationships with the main synth oscillators sliding all over the place.. but this is also a reference to techno’s function as atonal music. The warbled pitches both create instability and dissonance to maintain interest in the parts. It’s a really cool idea that hasn’t been previously explored in techno, at least with not such a degree.
Wrapping it up, Kmyle knows who he is as an artist and where his heart lies within the music. His ability to express these beautiful ideas and also to be able to tarnish them for expressive effect makes this EP really unique. To do so while standing at the edge of melodic techno and proper, honest-to-goodness techno while firmly knowing how to guarantee success in each, really stands out and speaks to the prowess of the artist. Look to put this deep in the crates to make some core memories for the warehouse revelers at 3-4am.
-Sean Ocean
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