Looking back at VALE's fall singles

VALE is the home for expressive and innovative bass music, growing as a trademark for quality Electronica, from House to Garage, Drum & Bass to Halftime. The label released 5 singles back in fall, furthering the diverse palette we all love VALE for.

Let's get into it....

Pensive & Zain Wolf - Fear of Failure

Australian producer Pensive and South-African Zain Wolf (formerly Phizicist) unarguably excel in their evocative style of producing. The former is more known for ambient electronica, the latter for cinematic, sound design-packing bass music. They teamed up for a hefty collab, not meant to be pigeon-holed into a genre. It's as heavy as it is emotional.

It continually evolves without losing momentum. The track packs granular texture and orchestral tastes. Starting with a more halftime feel, it degrades in the messy break and concludes into rolling 140 terrain - what a ride!

Kagen - Ikigai

German producer Kagen delivers us an immersive melodic track, reminiscent of Koan Sound and Asa's Sanctuary EP. Not in a bad way though: the track manages to pull it off excellently in a modern style. The modulated reeses are delicious enough to bring envy to other producers.

Smol - Cohesive words

Smol is no stranger for VALE. He pleases us with a messy stomper of a tune. Unlike the title suggests though, I can't say the track keeps the momentum flowing.

What starts off as a brosteppy introduction, blasts of in a chunky banger. Textured bass and heavy drums are always a good combination. The track oozes back to the cheeky melody from the intro. The second drop brings some jump-up and - dare I say - drumstep elements to the table. Not my cup of tea, but I know it'll impress in the dancehall.

Chimera - Deflect

Listeners enjoying forward-thinking bass music should know this Dutch producer. Chimera is an expert in detailed neuro bangers. This tune doesn't waste much time on building up. It goes straight for the artery in a frenetic fashion. The weighty halftime beat keeps the listener engaged and the rather short play time keeps the experience enjoyable without going stale.

The track needs no further explanation, it's a no-nonsense whomper.

Chrizpy Chriz - Broken Function (Poztman Remix)

It doesn't seem fair to review my own track, so I figured I should share some insights about the track. Chrizpy Chriz is an amazing producer and I was really glad to give his track my own twist. I felt I wouldn't do the track justice by just making a halftime remix so I brought it to weird DnB territory with a Techno flavor.

To be honest, the idea got recycled out of an older riff made of my own samples. If I'm not wrong, most pads and basses stem from Native Instruments Massive.