Bruce Harper
As an avid fan of both Esseks and Mr. Bill, you can imagine my excitement upon learning that they’d be releasing a project together. Last Monday, a video promoting this collaboration was shared to Subcarbon’s Facebook page:
Mr. Bill & Esseks – DeadLanguage (EP announcement)
Take an adventure and dive deep into the minds of two music geniuses that have come together and align their forces to create a master piece! Mr. Bill & Esseks present "Deadlanguage" EP dropping January 30th.
Posted by Subcarbon on Monday, January 21, 2019
Although pleasantly distracted by the captivating animations of Ebo (the same artist responsible for Ganja White Night’s cinematic visuals) I couldn’t help but feel disappointed in what I was hearing.
Entirely subjective, of course, but to me the track featured (“Roughhousin”) just felt a bit one-dimensional and not at all a reflection of either producers’ repertoire. Was this what we were to expect from the rest of the release?
Thankfully, after listening to ‘DeadLanguage‘ in its entirety, I’m relieved to find that wasn’t the case. Each of the other songs on the 4-track EP symbiotically showcase both producers’ unique style and sensibilities without one ever overwhelming the other.
As a whole, “Roughhousin” still feels a bit disjointed sandwiched between the baroque “Beats with Bill” and flamboyant nature of “Censored” and “Boop” but, overall, ‘DeadLanguage‘ is still a solid piece of art from two of electronic music’s most brilliant minds.