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Sympathies VII

by Furtive

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1.
Pillars 06:59
2.
Hypercolor 06:22
3.
Awe Bubble 02:48
4.
Blue Spirit 06:05
5.
6.
7.
Bloom 06:34
8.
Fossil 05:04
9.
10.
Unraveler 06:57

about

Sympathies is Furtive’s eclectic self-published series of original albums, showcasing an extensive multi-genre catalog of colorful and exploratory production and deft dancefloor sorcery. The seventh release in the series continues and refines several trajectories in Furtive’s musical repertoire: across its 10 tracks, this release touches on reality-distorting techno psychedelia, profound star-gazing ambient, pulse-pushing drum n’ bass, foggy dancefloor drivers, and a touch of sentimental twilight goo.

Coming several months after the release of Furtive’s first vinyl EP, Tephra (published by NYC queer & nonbinary label Mild Fantasy in early 2022), Sympathies VII is Furtive’s most measured and serious self-release to date, comprising a selection of tracks with a more mature ear for dancefloor functionality and genre conventions while still remaining defiantly, deliciously idiosyncratic. Also noteworthy is that the publication of Sympathies VII marks Furtive’s first proper and long-awaited self-release since [formally] taking up residence in Philadelphia.

A delicate balance of a sturdy, pounding drum pattern and a warm, twilight glow opens Sympathies VII, as Pillars merges a powerful, dependable, and stalwart percussive tool with gooey sentimentality. It’s both an understated techno banger and an oozing love-note to the blurry uplifting atmosphere of closed-eye swaying as one greets the glow of dawn alongside many beloved souls.

There’s a deceptively gentle synth fluttering to Hypercolor’s opening, belying the high-pressure tunneling ahead. Progressively building momentum with strategic percussion and accelerating warp-drive synths, Hypercolor is a proper psychedelic weapon for bending reality and cranking up the intensity.

Awe Bubble: what can be said? Sometimes words fail in the face of profundity and the vastness contained in the heart. A searing ambient track for when the warped dome of the starlit sky becomes a clenched bubble encapsulating the dearest, most intense beauty (and sometimes pain) of being alive and in love.

Blue Spirit gallops along with flurried exchanges of low-slung kicks and skittering, needling percussion. This is a measured drum and bass roller, a foggy night-flying bass workout.

Dark, benthic, and trippy, Forest Steeple is Furtive’s take on psychedelic deep techno production. For when pine groves become yawning caverns and intertwining branches become crystalline stained glass, this is a rolling rhythm to animate a seeking soul.

Splash Damage infuses a precise but cavernous techno thrumming with a surprisingly gentle, warm atmosphere and skittering licks of unexpected texture. When lost in the intensity of a dancefloor pounding, this track acts like a sudden glowing wash of light bringing levity and surer footing in the dense fog.

Another ambient aside, Bloom is an overly fuzzy, smutty tumble that shifts from the billowing to the dizzying, like a vivid, twirling dream or viewing the vernal blossoms through a sun-graced window from an unmade bed.

Chunky bassline, pointillist synth programming, and precise, sharp percussion mark Fossil as a proper stomper. Mechanical and rolling, jagged but a smooth ride, rusty but groovy, some kind of freakshow disco behavior-type-shit.

Contraindication for Haunting brings back the drum and bass, but this time with a flintier drive and spookier atmosphere. Straddling both more crunchy junglist sentiments and rapid rave techno sensibilities, this is an edgy sprinter and sound system powerhouse.

Not one for subtlety, Furtive ends the release with the absolutely demented techno track Unraveler. Initially another pointillist, blippy techno stomper, the mounting intensity of shimmering, surfactant ripples and interplaying jagged detuned synth-lines yields an uneasy, increasingly frantic track - for when you’re contemplating hitting the panic button, but (un?)fortunately there’s still plenty more of the night left for dancing or …. being fucking weird.

Sympathies’ name references a body of work made during a debauched steamy summertime studio session many years ago - once a true sentimental touchstone of identity, and now a long-surpassed, beautifully, blissfully outgunned memory.

Sympathies is a blur of emotions, experiences, sensations, relationships, and the psychedelic fragments between, given meaning through sound waves and motion, through riotous adventures, bright lights, and the unexpected plot twists that shape life.

credits

released August 23, 2022

Production, mixing, and mastering by Furtive
Album artwork by Furtive
Descriptive novelization by Furtive
Starry-eyed rambling and self-important grand-standing also by Furtive

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about

Furtive Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Furtive is a full-gonzo polychromatic rave conjurer. A Philadelphia-based producer, DJ, and event organizer, Furtive manifests the rave with warping, slippery textures and eclectic asides - both in their studio work and in DJ sets. Furtive helps foster underground community as a DIY nightlife organizer, having previously helped to put on some of Washington, DC's zaniest techno parties. ... more

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