Diving into Keenan Mathias’ newest EP on SATURATE! RECORDS

The boys over at SATURATE! RECORDS are known for pushing experimental, heavy and bass driven halftime tunes. This time around they bring us the latest body of work from LA based producer, Keenan Mathias in the form of 'A Tremendous Interstellar Anomaly'.

When this release was sent to me... wow. I was truly blown away. I had never heard of Keenan Mathias before but damn, I’m glad I know who he is now. This man pumps out quality tune after quality tune and this EP is right there too.

Let’s take a trip...

We start off with Voyage. A synth driven, cinematic intro that sets the mood for this whole release. Keenan doesn't hold back and starts off swinging with this one as soon as it drops. Huge hip hop drums are set in between an amazing arp and some neuro basses to begin this journey he has created. Once the first drop ends we have some time to breathe before he takes us right back into the action. The second drop follows a similar pattern to the first and we end the track off with a dark, ear-tickling outro that leads right into the next one.

The Zone of Avoidance, my personal favorite - wastes no time and begins with a vocal chop and low passed drums that give off a very cyberpunk video game vibe to me. Once the bassline kicked in, wow. This one really took my by surprise. Keenan’s bass design and FX work throughout this drop are crazy. I love the addition of all the bass fills and change ups throughout. Once the first drop ends, the energy is slowly brought back down into a dark and ominous breakdown section. The second drop kicks the intensity up a notch. This “cyberpunk video game vibe” I mentioned earlier is quickly turned into a sci-fi horror movie of sound design and huge synths.

Next up is The Breach ft. SEJO and this one slapped me in the face. The intro here is short and to the point with the filtered drums and bassline. The first drop takes you right away into some 80 bpm halftime. The heavy neuro bass line in this drop is expertly crafted and set alongside a stomping hip-hop groove. They give us a small break before taking us into the second drop. Starting off similar to the first drop Keenan and SEJO quickly switch it up at 2:00 to bring in a very catchy acid lead that matches the bassline. The song finishes out with same section as before. If you enjoy heavy halftime, definitely check this one out.

The final track in our journey with Keenan Mathias is Contact. I really enjoyed this track with how creative he was in his sound choice. The song opens up with an ambient and spacious soundscape that quickly fills with FX and builds into a house section. I really loved that he decided to do this. Once the first drop starts, its weird wonky ride at 130 bpm. A distorted bassline and various synth sounds fill the space and really give this track its character. Hats and a more consistent bassline make their way into the second half of the drop before going into a breakdown section similar to the intro. The second drop is the same as the previous one until about halfway through when yes, the house comes back. Keenan finishes the track off with a nice filtered synth to bring this journey to an end.

Seriously, let the music speak for itself and go check this EP out and grab it on bandcamp. Keenan Mathias is a name I will definitely be looking more into and I highly recommend you do the same.