8ULENTINA - Eucalyptus EP

8ULENTINA
Eucalyptus EP
2018
Spotify

Club Chai may be a new name to you, not to mention 8ULENTINA so coming to this album is a bit of mystery. The mystery however doesn't fully unveil itself at the beginning and instead allows itself to unfold as the album flows forward. Genreless is a word that is a bit overused for people who barely dive into the next genre adjacent to their own but 8ULENTINA has gone so much further with this record trying to belnd the dance elements of electronic and ritualistic notes of percussion. 8ULENTINA is trying to create music meant for ritual rather than just meant to dance. The album opens feeling like sort of trippy electronica, where you think it will stay but then "Soiled" comes on with this intense almost drum and bass sound that is really like little else. I'm reminded of Anchorsong's 2016 record Ceremonial which went for a similar vibe but it in a much more ethereal and naturally rooted way. This album is not afraid of embracing the future sounds, and allowing those to sit in place of more traditional ceremonial music. It's an interesting experience and one that doesn't necessarily have a grounding in anything we've heard before. Because the sounds and influences are so disparate you are constantly trying to place it, find somewhere where this style can be logged, but it doesn't really exists. 8ULENTINA has said previous that He wanted this kind of music to be used for Tea Ceremonies and other ritualistic events, which you can see, but the deep dance element seems to throw a wrench in that idea.

The thing that 8ULENTINA does different is by taking the genres of dance which are solely devoted to getting the body moving like drum and bass as well as other dub steppy type stuff and bending it to this ritualistic will. It doesn't always work and the bangs or synthy snaps tend to become the focus, yet you can feel his ideas all over the place. The record is so frenetic though dropping in and out with this hurried pace. Footing is hard to find, grounding perhaps even harder. It's that stumbling however that really gives this album some flavor, especially for a debut. The risks are all over and not all of them pay off but you are grateful that 8ULENTINA is willing to take them. This sound is not fully flushed out, nor is it the hot newess, but there are elements and ideas on Eucalyptus that are pushing boundaries in the right direction. Only time will tell where 8ULENTINA music leads, but for now it is taking us into a new world, one that we may just find suits us just fine.

7.0 out of 10