It’s been four years in the making but we can finally thank UK producer Sub Focus for releasing his follow-up masterpiece Torus.
Nick Douwma isn’t a name you’re likely to have heard, but for Heavy Bass EDM fans, he is one of the most popular electronic acts going around. To be honest you’d have to be living under a rock for the last five years to have avoided his alter ego, British electronic musician Sub Focus.
The man has been dominating the charts with hits such as Rock It, Follow the Light, Falling Down and Could This Be Real. But Sub Focus does more than release the odd hit single whenever it suits him, he’s supported Pendulum on their Immersion tour, produced the Example track Won’t Go Quietly, as well as remixing scores of hit songs.
His first album, the self-titled Sub Focus, performed well with fans and critics alike, with his eclectic mash of dubstep, house and dance taking over clubs all across the globe. And finally he’s returned with a second album; the highly-anticipated Torus!
Showered with cameos from top musicians, including Foxes, Culture Shock, Kele and even Alpines, the is definitely a dance-floor destroyer.
The album kicks off with the title track Torus; a breathless dance number that opens with a slow-building clash of sampled voices, intricate electronics and sparse percussion that focus on creating the huge scale that the rest of the album promotes. Certain songs, like Safe in Sound, show just how much Sub Focus has come on as a musician; throwing together sounds to come up with something richly layered and confident.
This isn’t an album set around mindless build-ups and drops; it’s so much more that what you would expect. It’s full of painfully catchy electronic-pop riffs, slow-builders and frantic highs; an all-engrossing set with each song carefully intertwined with the other.
In short, Torus is definately worth listening to. The longer you listen to each song, the more you can take apart the layers, the lyrics, and see how much skill went into creating songs that work well on their own but manage to hold together an album with equal share.