Hailing from the rural areas of Denmark, the techno freight train M€RCY returns to Tiefschwarz’s Souvenir imprint with another indispensable shadowy slab of dance music.
Black/Rain is a rumbling railroad through deep foggy valleys and cold Northern landscapes, inspired by the monochrome atmosphere of M€RCY’s habitat and made for sunless venues, insightful dancefloors and delightfully uneasy moments of audio melancholy. M€RCY (Esben Valløe and Tim Panduro) last visited the label with their ‘Tunnel EP’ which immediately brought their opaque sonic vision to clubs worldwide with wide reaching success including immense support from Tale Of Us. This follow up, their second EP for the label, is called ‘Black/Rain’ and is set to boost their profile even higher. It’s a double-header of brand new tracks which are guaranteed to damage the dancefloor whilst lurking hauntingly in the gloom, accompanied by two remixes of equal strength.

The first track, ‘Black’ captures a night out where the sun has vanished and may never return. Stripped back to the bare essentials, the track floats alongside murky synth textures and ashy frequencies. Clever modulations of the steady percussion lift the track up and down, whilst discordant melodies and heavy use of reverb keep the listener in a perfect place between late night bliss and early morning unease. The track reaches a peak in the center following an intense breakdown, where the emotional elements sink to even darker levels and the rhythmic energy rises higher keeping the floor in a hypnotic grasp.

Affluential Italian production duo Mathame (Amedeo and Matteo Giovanelli) offers the first remix of ‘Black’ with a crisp and minimal interpretation akin to the sibling’s best work for labels like Afterlife, Oddity, ARTS and previous Souvenir offerings. Focusing on the subtle beauty within the melodies, and keeping the haunted atmosphere of the original, Mathame’s reworking is purposefully deep, introspective and perfectly designed for moments when the mind is drifting far away from the physical restrictions of dancing feet.

Heading in a different direction for ‘Black’ comes a remix from Skudge, the unstoppable Swedish Techno duo who’ve been constantly blowing minds with their hardware driven productions. Loopy, trippy and relentless is the direction with their remix, snatching only carefully selected elements of the original version and twisting them into a prime time narcotic club weapon. A harmonious frequency rides in the distance throughout the entire track, capturing a sense of tension whilst banging on.

Rounding out the EP is ‘Rain,’ another original from M€RCY. Keeping true to their dark and wicked intentions, the track dives down into deep foggy valleys and provides a track which is equal parts cinematic musical masterpiece and a versatile floor filler. A track which is suitable for early parts of the night to set the mood, for prime time when the energy needs to be steady, or late in the morning hours when fragile minds are falling apart and windows are soaked with steam. It’s music which is “atmospheric, dense and dark” – three characteristics described by Germany’s FazeMag, and as certain as darkest midnight.