MZA: Balmoral
MZA
Balmoral
Balmoral – Yen Disco Soundsystem leader and electronic music producer Matt Sekiya’s debut EP as MZA – sounds akin to John Coltrane performing a solo in a Buddhist temple with an analog synthesizer. Crafted in his bedroom studio, its five tracks demonstrate an tastefully eclectic approach to electronic music, gracing us with a globe-trotting flurry of textures, tones and grooves. As he traverses worlds of downtempo, ambient, to even drum ‘n’ bass, he conjures an effort that reflects his deep-cut expertise, much like his efforts on his crate-digging publication, Zujago.
Throughout Balmoral’s tracklist, the producer’s nostalgia and fondness for the various sights and sounds of his childhood become its central pillar – here, he recalls both his neighbourhood here in Singapore and his second hometown in Japan, where he spent extended amounts of time with his grandparents. Naming the EP after a bakery he frequented as a child, MZA conveys this nostalgia through sampling and employing instruments reminiscent of the records and religious processions he heard while growing up. From a listener’s perspective, these strong feelings translate into a evocative sense of hypnotic psychedelia, as his jazz-influenced samples and analog drum machine patterns create trance-inducing motifs, altogether forming an eclectic and engaging ambience.
The EP opens with the downtempo greeting of “Morning Salutations”, a track reminiscent of trip-hop acts like Massive Attack and Portishead. Here, he prominently flips trumpet samples (originally played by the late avant-garde Japanese trumpeter Toshinori Kondo) against slow, woozy backbeats, placing Toshinori’s lines in spacious arrangements that leave room for other instruments to create equally mesmerising soundscapes. Upon this foundation, MZA injects melodic embellishments that become subtle sonic touchstones of his childhood: the singing bowl sample at the beginning of the track, for example, emulates the sounds of Buddhist mantras performed by his grandparents in his childhood Japanese home. On other instances, he displays obvious dub influences in his use of delay and modulation, with his treated gamelan, string and vocal samples all harkening back to 70’s Jamaican producers like King Tubby and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry. These combine into a great summary of his sound’s appeal: a dusty, eclectic trip down memory lane.
Unfortunately, Balmoral begins running into an inconsistent series of genre experiments. The opener moves into the minute-long interlude, “Pure and Honest”, an oddly eerie piece interwoven with reverberated bells, swirling synthesizers and kalimba samples, punctuated by ritualistically sequenced drums. Although clearly intended to be the listener’s gateway to the EP’s title track, Balmoral, “Pure and Honest” does not transition to the third track very smoothly, with its motifs abruptly cutting into its successor’s intense drum ‘n’ bass rhythms. That being said, its title track chops and incorporates “Pure and Honest’s” samples to a much greater effect, switching out the latter’s atmospheric and reverb-intensive characteristics for wobbling bass and thumping d’n’b grooves. Compared to its successor, this fusion of musical elements feels a lot more effective, with the track’s union of zen sound-libraries and d’n’b intensity feeling characteristically his.
On 前川町 (“Maekawacho”), named after a district in Japan’s Saitama prefecture, he further ups the ante, shifting the EP into the world of house music. Unfortunately, it falls short compositionally in comparison to its counterparts, with the track’s string section feeling jarringly out of place against its opening palettes of electric pianos and Latin percussion. Its accompanying synth embellishments also sound noticeably out of key, leading to a disappointing addition to his otherwise impressive repertoire.
Thankfully, the EP closes on a strong and smooth note, as Balmoral finally concludes with “Sunset”, a tasteful slice of jazz-influenced 90s hip-hop based on flammed Dilla-esque breakbeats. Marrying avant-garde sensibilities with East Coast hip-hop, the producer embellishes the track’s jazz chords and breakbeats with haunting vocal samples, gamelan and vinyl scratches, with his chosen palettes leading to an intrinsically distinctive concoction. This track is a personal favourite of mine, and even calls back to the same delayed string samples heard at the end of “Morning Salutations”, concluding the EP in an impressive full circle.
Despite its sometimes awkward motifs, and sometimes hurried approach that interferes with the release’s ability to maintain a consistent flow, Balmoral’s eclectic and personal approaches to the world of experimental sampling are definitive hallmarks for MZA’s emergence as a producer with a unique voice, as well as the Yen Disco don’s distinctive identity and heritage. Regardless of its issues, the release remains an excellent introduction to MZA’s trademark sound – an effort that’s undeniably mesmerising.
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