So far February has seen a plethora of producers, both artisan and hobbyist, release a treasure trove of EP's and LP's in an effort to start off 2018 with their best work yet. Naturally, our slimy gastropod friends over at Slug Wife have been busy stirring up anticipation for new music and a US tour from across the pond, and Seppa is spearheading their dive into 2018 with the neck-breaking EP Thick Pits.

Gaining considerable rapport with the western hemisphere's electronic music community in the last few years, Seppa, who formerly produced under the moniker Duskky, is a card-carrying member of a new generation of broken beat producers who are simultaneously redefining soundscapes and raising the bar for fidelity in bass music. Together alongside production powerhouse Kursa, the duo operates the Slug Wife label, a creative smorgasbord of unique and eclectic producers that specialize in all things low-frequency. 2017 saw the birth, inception, and rapid propagation of the label, and the community response has been massive through and through, with fans of both the duo and the label at large eagerly awaiting the day when Slug Wife squirms and wiggles its way into US bookings.

Thick Pits is a headfirst plunge into a visceral torrent of low-end blitzkrieg and deranged instrument sample play. Each track is a closed system of unique synthesis textures, extreme compression, sub-oscillator movement, and left field musical stylings.

"Thick Pits" opens the EP with a playful, trickling melody that is quickly crushed under the weight of high-octane bass lines. High-hat shuffles and popping kick drums carry the beat in and out of instrumental interplay that is eventually and deliberately overpowered by saw-toothed synthesizers that explode from speaker cones like a punch from Bruce Lee.

"Mostly" begins with a jazzy brass line that morphs at the 26-second mark into a descending scale, harmonized with just the right counter tones to keep the track as bright as it is spooky. As it progresses, plucky sub bass is introduced to start holding down the low end, and is in constant musical dialog with the same maddening melody being spoken by a revolving door of far-out tonalities.

"Represent" is perhaps the most melody-driven track on the EP. The lead line floats around a full octave while occasionally dropping down in scale, bringing the listener straight down the aural rabbit hole. Vocal cuts come in and out focus, highlighting the wispy bass tones underneath the mix that carry the weight of the track.

"Sh-t Slinger" follows the motif of the first track, beginning with a fluttery melody warping in and out of the mix through filter sweeps and a dash of reverb. Once the 20-second mark is hit, any semblance of this vivacious opening is overpowered by full force baritone synthesis, with each note marching to the back and forth beat of the kick and snare, demonstrating a rhythmic juggle that keeps this track stuck in the front of the mind long after it has finished.

With the release of this EP, and the announcement of an upcoming Slug Wife US takeover, it can be surmised that Seppa will be making landfall on our shores just in time to rinse these tunes through and through. Stay tuned for more goodies fast incoming from the UK's resident mollusks at the top of the food chain.

FOLLOW Seppa : Soundcloud / Facebook / Bandcamp

FOLLOW Slug Wife: Soundcloud / Facebook / Bandcamp / Twitter