Nihx: 2019875
An aggressive inversion from his techno’s immersive depths, Singaporean producer Xhin has emerged with the first outing from his side project Nihx. Fittingly titled with a digital edge – 2019875 – the release (put out last week on 24 February) is a move away from the hypnotic zones of Berghain, and instead into the mechanical imaginations of Warp-esque IDM.
Shotgun-like pulses immediately open the fractured techno “Curvature”, an eight-minute assault of shuddering textures and squelching synth intensity, while “opt [10] ver3” follows as a more surgical counterpart, with glitching superimpositions of acid touches and synth distortion meshing with forward-charging beats. Meanwhile, the menacing shuffle of “Switch” closes the EP, as discordant swells threaten to surface - only for clattering beatscapes to quell their rise at the record’s end. With an impending global crisis on hand ready to boil over, the three-track effort’s kinetic darkness feels ominously prescient.
2019875 marks the first effort in establishing Xhin’s new imprint, The Document – what we hope is a further step for sonically detailed producers slowly emerging in Singapore’s undergrowth (see: LMBO). Just one thing: Aphex Twin comparisons beware!
Listen to the project below, and follow Xhin on Instagram.