Kabuki--Fever Pitch

The ever-talented German drum & bass producer and mixer Kabuki is back with his newest single release: Fever Pitch. Never accepting simplicity in his work, Kabuki shows off his veteran talents for creating complex fast-paced and beat-ridden environments, all packed within two tracks. Pumping as many influences and varieties of sound as he can into his work, Kabuki crafts tracks that never sound monotonous, and yet feel much longer than the two-track playlist reveals.

The namesake song Fever Pitch wraps a quick-paced drum beat with a jazzy piano riff, all coated with seductive and somewhat unsettling vocals. This combination is broken up by a quick interlude of electronic trinkets and treats, before exploding back into Kabuki’s well composed melody of jazz, beat, electronica, and emotion.

Side B reveals Lunar Phase, which reveals an oriental twist in Kabuki’s sonic repertoire. Again, after a softly mysterious intro, Kabuki kicks the song into high gear with a break-neck-speed drum rattle, this time accompanied with heavy bass. He lets this mix expand, momentarily cranking the distortion into a peak – holding the tension – before finally letting the rhythm crash back into it’s comfortable groove. The song continues in a rattlesnake snare beat, while the deep bass winds intricate circles ‘round and ‘round. One by one the pieces of the composure break away, until the listener is left with nothing by silence.

In just under a dozen minutes Kabuki has said his piece and has walked off the stage, but the listener is breathless. Here, in the space of two songs, he has pumped so much rhythm and melody that the audience is gasping for more. Lucky for you though, that you can replay Kabuki all over again.