Serpentine grooves, chest-rattling bass and dextrous melodies - Parisian producer Sylvere’s productions capture the magnetic power of soundsystem music. As a producer, his heavy-hitting, mesmeric tracks have established him as one of the most exciting new voices in bass music. Through his radical arts collective LA CREOLE, Sylvere has been an essential figure in championing marginalized sounds and communities, creating an inclusive space on the dancefloor for consciousness-raising, “partying as a form of campaigning” as they put it. The collective’s parties and Rinse radio show have quickly made ripples through the global underground, cited as one of Dazed & Confused’s “best new parties” and with work from the collective featured in The New York Times. Sylvere’s EP3 combines that same uncompromising, global outlook with the raucous energy of his earlier releases to create his most daring and sophisticated work to date - music for the soul as well as the body.
The third and final installment of a three-part EP series for Monkeytown, EP3 refines the incendiary sound palette and boisterous rhythms of its predecessors into something even more potent. His sound design in particular has been sharpened to a razor-edge, Sylvere paradoxically amping up the intensity through stripping back his productions to introduce more space. Each swaggering kick and percussive snap lands harder, humid bass rising like heat from the concrete to mingle with arcing melodies. “Work My Body” immediately sets the tone, snaking from the speakers with an inescapable groove, before “Ah Oui Ah Oui” ratchets up the tempo with fizzing pirate radio pressure. “Bright Clash” pushes even further into nosebleed territory before breaking apart into aching synth pads. The EP reaches its apex in “Epiphanie”, Sylvere’s glassy synthesizers elevated by the silken flow of fellow Parisian Le Diouck, a glistening follow-up to the latter’s acclaimed collaboration with Low Jack and Lala &ce on PAN experimental theater piece and album Baiser Mortel. “What is This?” and “6am” push the EP’s tectonic rhythms into driving techno mutations, recalling Sylvere’s unique radio selections.
Raised in Paris with roots in the French West Indies, Sylvere combines an immersion in the history of soundsystem music with a keen eye on the future of the music. Through both his own shapeshifting productions and his work with LA CREOLE, Sylvere celebrates Caribbean culture and identity through highlighting its indelible influence on modern dance music. With the producer already starting work on a new full-length, EP3 is the perfect closing chapter to a series that has demonstrated Sylvere’s versatility and skill as a producer, standing as a bold statement that plays to the full strength of his powers.
