Slow Start
You, Sword (Independent)

Over the last few years, Vancouver producer Jonny Dylan Hughes has been quietly building up an impressive discography, working either under his full given name or with a variety of pseudonyms like JDH, Branches, and Cool Man. This EP as Slow Start is the debut release under yet another moniker, and it once again finds him delving into beat-centred electronic music.

The soundscape on You, Sword is dominated by burbling rhythms and sweetly melodic, twinkling synths. Every track is geared toward the dance floor: “Courteous, OK” surges forward with thudding house beats and urgent arpeggiator figures, while the echo-laced “You, Sword” builds from clattering conga samples to a buzzing robo-pulse.

Most of these songs have vocals, but they’re typically doused in effects and buried low in the mix, rarely accomplishing much in terms of lyrics or melody. Instead, they serve a primarily textural function, adding a sense of fragile humanity to songs that are otherwise rooted in glossy, computer-based sounds. This is particularly effective on “You Could Do Better”, on which Auto-Tune croons complement the blippy sweetness of the star-shower synths, which resemble a vintage video-game score.

With just seven tracks, all of which are fairly concise, You, Sword is rather short-lived as far as dance parties go. Still, there are enough sonic treats to be found here that you might want to leave it on Repeat and let it play all night.