Junes - Shifting Sands

Ever since he first stepped in the production game in 2013 with his self-released debut, Newcastle’s Junes has worked tirelessly on establishing an identifiable sound, exempt from ephemeral trends and bound to withstand the test of time. The Berlin-relocated Englishman now escapes from his home platforms Galdoors and Dote to land a round of his typically atypical dub blends and elegantly pared-down electronics on KOC.

A crisp, opium-scented bassy tech number in its own right, “Witching Hour” kicks things off to the sound of rattling darbukkahs, chirpy hats and thick volutes of Prince of Persia-extracted synths. A2 “Vessel” keeps the mystery intact with its curtains of randomly cascading chimes and bloopy signals gone astray.

Flip it over and let the title-track “Shifting Sands” work its stealth magic on you. Whereas the original takes us on a speleological ride across mineral chambers and bottomless spectrum depths where weird machine monsters and their warped cousins reside in relative tranquility, Aarhus-based producer and Help Rec. boss Central drops the hammer with a shuffling, oneiric reshape primed for an all-organic workout in the wild.