Sunwarper - Signal Fragments

 Released: September 4 

Coming back after a nearly year-long hiatus, Sunwarper returns with a brief but also rather varied EP titled Signal Fragments. Over five tracks, we’re treated to Sunwarper’s unique blend of ambient, lo-fi, a touch of boom bap, and synthwave. The album starts with a little misdirection as “Signals Through Static” makes you think you’re about to get a lush drone album until it abruptly ends less than thirty seconds in. The next track starts in about the same manner - slow, airy, and ambient - until a very boom bap influenced beat drops in and changes the vibe nicely. 

Sunwarper’s latest work is a salient reflection on how his workflow has changed over time, with his newfound mastery of the SP404 playing a central role in this slow shift. Those ambient roots are still very much there and heard clearly on both the first and final track of the album. “Telemetric Passings” is a beautiful example of this aesthetic with lush and slowly evolving pads that wash over the entire stereo field. But sandwiched between these two pieces is an album filled with relaxed lo-fi vibes and down of the most well-processed and arranged beats of this flavor you’ll find. Especially on the fourth track, “Offset Horizon,” which twists the boom bap motif slightly into something that wanders back in downtempo IDM territory with maintains that sense of snappiness.