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Matenda - Energy Loader - Spiral Trax (Sweden)

Denis Matenda is quite a new name on the global trance circuit, and with releases on Spiriz Zone, Medium and Transient his impact has been swift and effective. His first album is very accomplished, loveable and listenable, and has all the signs of being a bit of a classic in its own right. Welcome Sunshine and Adverse Selection open the album with stripped down, funky and minimal grooves that fit in with the Swedish trance tradition pioneered by Atmos et al. Title Track Energy Loader is wonderful, sheer class in a glass, with a wonderful melody and organic, dreamy movement that has quite a strange, undescribble effect. Free Rider is a killer, a very subtle little fella, with immaculate production and an incredibly addictive set of melodies that hang together perfectly. You Can Run But You Can’t Hide and Faros are darker, having more of a sinister vibe but never straying from Matenda’s well-thought and restrained production, keeping things funky at all times and building into danceable lose-yourself peaks. Final track Lipo More is the obligatory downtempo tune, and it’s pulled off with great effect – it builds up into a blissful stoned groove that somehow hangs together, sounding like the tempo’s changing all around you and escalating a series of interchanging melodies. This folks is clever, brain-friendly and addictive stuff: with this quality of sounds, melodies and proper dancefloor vibes, Matenda is a name to look out for.

(9/10)