Ten slices of blissful electronics, downtempo moods, and articulated melodies are front and center.
The beauty of analog machinery
Stephen Hummel retreats to his origins and accurately describes the trajectory as “old-school melodic IDM. Synths. Beats. Fruits & Vegetables.” We’re onboard too; these ten slices of blissful electronics, downtempo moods, and articulated melodies are front and center starting with the crisp beat patches and dripping melodies of “The Center of the Sky.”
The aptly titled “Fuzzy Around the Edges” exhibits subtle breaks and meandering synth notes drifting and falling apart. And this is where the Vancouver-based musician really hones in on the beauty of analog machinery. The ambient pulsars on “Stolen From My Childhood” are as delicately crafted as earlier works from B. Fleischmann and Plod where tiny melodic fibers interact with broken beats, taking us back many years.
While Creature of Habit could easily fit within Suction Records’ electro, IDM, and synth family (just have a listen to the closing piece “Perfectly Naturally” for its nostalgic bells and bleep sweeps aligning with Solvent and Lowfish.) Hummel makes himself at home with improvised electronica flourishes we can’t help but be drawn towards.
Creature of Habit is available on Bandcamp.
