Rumah - Vex

As part of the 'Church' imprint, Sean Hughes a.k.a Rumah has released 'Vex' as a free download. He claims that he has only been "producing seriously" for eight months (as reported by Clash Magazine) and if this is indeed true, the results are startling. For such little experience in the industry, Rumah produces a sound that is both mature and infectious.

Vex is a prime example of Rumah's style, 4/4 techno focussed on sharp synth stabs,a nostalgic Detroit-esque bass line, ambient noises and a bass drum that hits harder than a Jehovah's Witness knocking at your door (no offence). The build-up to the first drop focusses in on  strange samples panning from ear to ear, however the sounds that he creates here are not subtle, the extreme filtering of these samples make you lose yourself completely in what you are listening to, to point where you are not sure whether to dance, or to wig out all over the dance floor.

The lead bass line is fantastic, it fits wonderfully over the simplistic, yet effective drum pattern and over the alternating synth stabs. Combine this with the reversed cymbals and eerie stutters and you have a tune that will work as well as it would on the dance floor  as it would sound tracking a drive up the M1 at 3 in the morning.

Essentially, Rumah shows a tremendous amount of promise. By listening to his music, it is relatively easy to calculate his influences, although, and unlike some,  he couples this with his own sound resulting in some brilliant productions that are both an ode to  producers that have influenced him and an illustration of his own creative flare.
I'm sure we will be hearing a lot more of Rumah in the future.

- Samuel Hughes