Matük returns to Acacia Baila with Palmas, an extended EP that swirls with both mesmerizing fluidity and sharply-drawn detail.
These are seven certified floor-fillers for fearless DJs and dancers who aren’t afraid of their bodies. The Colombian producer is operating at full force, drawing on afro-latin rhythms, intricate dynamic interplay and a thick layer of syrupy, dub-inflected chaos. It all coheres into a vibrant, textured whole that explodes out of the speakers with the riotous energy of a Carnaval. The cracking percussion and positively gooey basslines weave together into slippery grooves that command the room while maintaining a level of complexity that pulls the mind into multiple directions.
Tracks like “Mudo” and “Cybermelcocha” are delicious riddles, never quite settling while remaining rock solid at their core. Elsewhere, Matuk draws upon the lexicon of minimal at its most classically tripped out. “Perrin” sways in the breeze with a languid, stoned confidence; it’s both twitchy and so, so loose. “Give” goes harder with a menacing vocal atop an urgent, propulsive drum pattern, while “Dreams a Sueños” makes a sideways nod to the balmy chillout of ‘70s krautrock. Two remixes are the icing on the cake. NAP’s take on “Dreams” pulls from upbeat Jamaican dub, with a low-key, high-bpm drum pattern and cascades of echo. Finally, Brouhaha (one of aka-Sol alter egos) fully deconstructs “Perrin” with a slimy, slurred screw of the original. Enveloping, expressive, liberating - Palmas is a triumph.
Composition, Production & Mix - Isaac Matus
Additional percussion - Isaac Matus
Dreams a Sueños Remix - Daniel Rincón
Perrin Remix - Sol León
Master - Julián Picado
Artwork - Nema Hän
Liner Notes - Daniel Martin McCormick
Vocals for Perrin - Gaby Cotter, Melvin Lam,
Eleni Giannopoulos, Xander Zoi
Vocal arrangement in Perrin - Melvin Lam
Percussion for Perrin - Takafumi Nikaido