Review Summary: trunk thumpin’ squared.
It’s suave, it’s sultry, it’s pulchritudinous. As undulating waves of pleasure course through your subwoofers, emanating frequencies designed to lift your heart and tickle your netherspheres, you wonder how something so simple and so natural could possibly be so engaging. It feels like a sensual meditation, contemplating the stillness of our world while reaching deep into the pleasure centres of the brain, uninhibited by convention or intent. Truly, I’d be remiss if I approached reviewing this album with anything less than a bit of literary foreplay, because after all, Patrick Sexx’s debut album
The Shadow That Took Shape is a lot like good sex… intense, intimate and overflowing with immensely romantic caresses of deep bass seduction.
Released in 2014 on Alpha Pup records,
The Shadow That Took Shape is a bit of an oddball curiosity. Robust, unpretentious basslines dominate the soundscapes as minimalistic experimentation wiggles through the gaps, filling in these bottom-heavy landscapes with contemplative fingerlings and grounding vibes. It’s not really dub, it’s not really trap, it’s not really EDM at all, but those basslines nonetheless tease any good sound system with imminent disaster as they push the limits of how hard a nigh sub-sonic frequency can hit. Whether it’s the coursing transcendence of “Placebo Pinch” and its gorgeous marriage of distant vocal samplings with those round, bouncy kicks laced with droplets of fresh morning dew or the staunch headiness of tracks like “Vape Villain” or "Code Red", Patrick Sexx stays true to his name and finds your ear’s G-Spot every time with immaculately sculpted sound waves. Free of features aside from a helping hand from none other than Bleep Bloop himself on the tracks “Tao” and “The Outer Void”,
The Shadow That Took Shape is the singular vision of a producer whose motive seems to be making bass music as illustriously pleasant as possible. There’s plenty of variation to be found here as each song holds a firm identity without straying too far from the central focus of the album’s trunk-rattling aesthetic principles, and as a result it discards any misgivings such a subtle approach has to offer. The wayfaring spoken word samplings always illicit a pleasant, calming sensation that does well to solidify the mood and keep the “zen factor” at full tilt whilst the patient exploration of the motifs presented keep everything neat and thoughtful. At 41 minutes, it's a full-course meal with plenty of flavour, and any fan of deep electronic music that isn’t afraid the straddle the realms of danceable bliss and sensual meditation will have no trouble finding things to love about the many nooks and crannies of this low-end laden work of mammoth sound design. Do you see that ethereal being on the album cover enjoying a beer and a cigarette? He took one listen and look at him now, hungover as all hell and calmly gazing at the world around him in a state somewhere between dead and alive, wondering what the hell just happened. Now, what will
The Shadow That Took Shape do to you?
