Versatile & elegant Breakbeat science from the French producer Fluid Matter, infused with abstract Drum & Bass fragrances, to be released on his own deep rave imprint Virtual Forest
“Bass music as a community experience”. These words could be felt as evidence for many music heads when it comes to partying or sound system culture, and all the freedom values it aims to stamp around the globe. We can’t also review how many labels, collectives and venues have dedicated all their time and guts, over the past three decades, to put this wide musical aesthetic on the map. But there are so few Bass affiliates that are reaching out to make it resonate differently as much as the Virtual Forest family.
Launched around 2021, after a global lockdown that saw the music world trying to keep things going digitally without any clue of what would be next, the Paris via Lyon label’s main mission was to combine rave and bass aesthetics into a sound affair where techno, drum & bass and ambient were took as the core ingredients for a new recipe of hybrid dance music flavor. The trio of co-founders, Fluid Matter, natural limit & Solma, didn’t wait too long to introduce a new set of sounds inherited from their common passion for hardcore continuum and deep techno. They did so with the later-cited first EP and inaugural release Motherboard, followed quickly by a handful of compilations entitled with statement such as No Digging After Midnight or This Doesn’t Look Like A Good Place To Picnic which were gathering a new generation of electronic artists such as IDM scientist RM Estali, hardware sorcerer A Strange Wedding or deep techno dreamer Paul Rêve, ton only name a few. We already took some time to speak about Galtier’s remix for the Swiss rising talent Fels in 2024, and we now wanted to focus and the upcoming release of Virtual Forest main bass boy Fluid Matter’s new EP Soap.
Navigating between Dubstep, breakbeat and abstract Drum & Bass influences, this fresh four-tracker is quite a journey into the swampy yet sharp sound-design fueled musical mantra of the Parisian-based producer and DJ, also known for his implications with the widely celebrated media and collective SeekSickSound within the last decade. From start to finish, the Soap project drives us into elegantly danceable soundscapes with a touch of melancholic tonality. Dark synth lines colliding with delayed snare patterns and wobbling sub frequencies, revealing all the Fluid Matter’s capacities to create atmospheric breakbeat songs that will easily be stuck in your mind while making your feet stomp continuously. Reminding the deep techno proper attention on drum mixing details as well as a no non-sense take on stereo imaging, the EP is a calm trip into tempos, melodic vibes and grooves that never miss their target.
You can now listen to the single “Tiptoe” above the present article, a track which, with Fluid Matter, blends abstract Dnb break science with echoed rhythmics elements that remind of the most cherished hours of dub techno history, while enveloping the ears with sub shots and ethereal pads all over. The perfect sound to bathe your bass head in.
Pre-order Fluid Matter’s Soap EP on Bandcamp, out via Virtual Forest on all platforms on April 24th.
