Dance music has found itself at the same wobbly-spinning-plate pivotal point as guitar-based music has been for a decade or two. Simply put, a lot of what can be done has been done.
This isn’t to say that there aren’t hours and hours of thrilling new songs to be written, but that the excitement of discovery isn’t enough to satisfy any more.
Having established itself as the genre producing the genuinely titillating music, a dance musician need to push that little bit harder to meet the benchmark. TETRA is one of those artists.
TETRA was recommended to me by Cal from D/R/U/G/S, and for all I know, TETRA could just be another of his guises. There’s a similar absence of photos and information online, and – more importantly – a similar knack for producing razor-sharp, spacious songs.
In truth, I’m not sure if my conspiracy theory stands up – the huge, sprawling Ozma is quite a hand-flailing hop away from D/R/U/G/S’ sound. There’s evidence of an innate understanding of dance music’s straight-up aesthetic: it builds and releases with measured impunity.
Utilising the old language of warped bleeps and sequenced shimmers with ruthless efficiency, TETRA makes five minutes of dancefloor distraction pass at half-speed, all other thoughts clouded by pure exhilaration. Phew. Good stuff.
NB: Huge, unwieldy interview with D/R/U/G/S coming up tomorrow…
INTERVIEW // D/R/U/G/S | A New Band A Day!