I do love reminiscing about how I first heard about certain artists, I know it. And perhaps it doesn’t bode for fantastic reading, but also this is my article I’ll do what I want, okay dad? So anyway, I first came across Scottish producer, Makeness, when the good people at Good Manners announced they’d signed him in Aus back in 2015. The one EP released through the local label, Rogue, was a mind-melter, but didn’t really go anywhere. And so, his story didn’t go much further. I kept tracks, his tunes went through a very heavy house stage, and I thought that maybe Makeness wasn’t for me anymore. BUT, then a warped poppy colab with Adult Jazz emerged late last year, followed by a signing announcement to Secretly Canadian and suddenly I was eating my words. ‘Day Old Death’ is the second track Makeness has dropped since the Secretly Canadian signing, and fuck, this is exactly what I felt when I first heard about him. The track is built off these slow, whirling synths, that seem to warp more and more as the track goes on – alongside some punching percussion and crushing bass. What keeps this away from becoming just another heavy house track is the intricacies, just like a Planete, the production feels like a collage of sound – each layer perfectly working around each other. No part stepping on another’s toes, nothing out of place or muddled. This is a production masterclass.
Expect a new Makeness release next year via Secretly Canadian.