Fast-rising Londoner Rkay pays tribute to his hometown on a stylish new deep techno EP for Aespheric. Rkay has been listening to electronic music since his early teens. Everything from dark dubstep to house, progressive beats, and big room has helped form his musical identity, but now he has fomented his deep and avant-garde techno sound. As a DJ, he excels at driving, atmospheric, and push-and-pull techno, whether spaced-out and sci-fi or more chilled and soothing dub.
His new EP is centred around Rkay’s experience growing up in London and features ‘Terrors Of London’, which was one of the first songs he ever produced back in late 2021. Once the rest of it was completed, he spent five months honing his photography skills, travelling to every corner of London to take the shots that make up the artwork, which will be both sold on the label’s Bandcamp and included in the digital files.
How to listen: There are a couple of ways to proceed. First, you can listen to the whole album, which you will find below, and then read the notes. Or, read the notes as you listen to each track. This will completely change your perspective on the whole release itself and bring you closer to the artist and their work.
Packing a punch and going all in with the first track is “Blackwall Tunnel”. If you’re a Londoner, you’ll instantly recognise the name as it comes after the busiest motor tunnel in the capital. Like most of the songs on this EP, I tried to replicate the sound and feeling of what inspired me to make the track in the first place.
The tunnel itself is very noisy, especially when there’s traffic, so when making the track, I gave the drums and atmospheres a kick in treble to replicate the chaos. I realise techno is very bass heavy, but that still didn’t get in my way of balancing sharp hi hats and a pounding kick drum to go hand in hand and sound well together. A lot of the time in that tunnel (i assume like all other tunnels) you can feel the grunts and vibrations spewing out from all the other engines, for me this meant there was no other option than combining a massive, tunnel-like sub bass, rolling toms and a powerful kick to capture Blackwall Tunnel. In my opinion, however, I think what makes the track really stand out is the swirling synth that runs almost the whole way through. I made sure to make it the main character in the track as I knew this was what would make this song a highlight in the EP.
Up next with a sharp incline in BPM is “Speeding Through The North Circular”. The title may not make sense at first, so here’s some context, the “North Circular” is the informal name given to a road that spans from west London all the way through to east forming a semi circle called the A406, the bottom half of the road is called the “South Circular”. The title is kind of ironic because nowadays you can barely speed down this road because of a bunch of new speed cameras, unlike a few years ago, you could drive from Ilford to Wembley within 15 minutes. I gave the whole song a 3/4 time signature, I felt as if this gave a sense of not enough/ incompleteness, which can mean whatever speed you’re doing on the motorway, it’s not enough. The rippling arpeggiated synth gets one break near the beginning of the song, after this break, it intensifies throughout the track, subtly adding more drums and percussion as time goes on, all leading to a big crash at the end. The track is not to promote speeding, I promise haha, but more to represent a harsh reality.
“Terrors of London” was actually the first track I produced from this project back in late 2021. Since then, I’ve done about two mix downs, considering I’ve gotten way better at producing, nevertheless, the sound of the track has always stayed the same: moody, creepy, brooding, and dark.
The main thoughts behind the track is that although London is one of the biggest tourists cities in the world its becoming very apparent that this is masking the truth that the capital holds which is crippling poverty, sky high rents, venues closing left right and centre, being taxed on almost everything you receive/do and income inequality. To be honest this accounts for a lot of the country, its hard trying to make it out and build yourself up, not that it should be easy and given to you on a plate without putting the work in but a lot of people have a crabs in a bucket mentality where they feel as if everyone should suffer like themselves. Without being too political (maybe i should be haha), all of these problems can visibly be seen on Londoners’ faces, especially when you’re taking the tube to work in the morning, it’s very depressing.
Terrors Of London echoes this with the eerie baseline, haunting narrator, and repetitive minimalism. I will say this though, after several consecutive weeks of grey clouds and pissing rain, when the sun does finally come out London is the best city in the world.
Probably the only track off the EP that doesn’t have depressing context to it. It was nice creating a track that’s got a proper party vibe to it, parties and events in London can be and are amazing, and this is exactly what “Shoreditch Shenanigans” conveys, a proper vibe. There are a lot of passionate promoters for techno in the city, and they try their best to keep the music going. The sound of this track emanates that passion and, in general, the upbeat atmosphere. I particularly named the track after Shoreditch in East London because it’s one of the most vibrant places in the city(I may be biased, but it’s the truth). Most events are around the east end, and the vibe isn’t really matched anywhere else.
Up next, toning down the energy is “3 AM On The Night tube”. Coming back home from a night out can be a bit of a weird one, especially if you’re on public transport. At first on the start of your journey back home you’ll be surrounded by your friends/fellow partygoers, still living it large, having a great time but as time passes more and more people get off the train and before you know it you realise you’re the only one left on the carriage (if you’ve managed to stay awake!). The melancholy, pensive pad and chords reflect this, and to be honest, can be a bit of a downer, but that’s the point when you notice you’re soon back to your mundane lifestyle.
The EP ends with a bang, introducing “Rush Hour.” It’s eight minutes full of franticness, drive, and intensity. With this track, I tried to mimic how crazy it is getting home from work during the rush hours. Everyone seems to be in their own world not giving a monkeys about anyone else, pushing past people on train platforms, sprinting to get on the train before the train door closes, and if there’re any delays with said trains (which there always are) its just a sea of people squished together in a carriage that are barely able to breathe, there’s no rest. And this doesn’t only apply to London, I’m sure it’s universal. This is why I gave the track the name Rush Hour. The only bit of tranquility you get on the song is at the end when it’s just the bittersweet pad playing; it resembles the relief you feel when you finally get in from a long day, however,r you still know that you gotta do it all again the next day.
Grab your copy here.
The post The Extended Cut: Rkay – London Town [Aespheric] appeared first on Magnetic Magazine.