My Panda Shall Fly – Higher

Label: Sonic RouterRelease: Out Now

Truth be told, I hadn’t heard of My Panda Shall Fly (MPSF) until his latest EP Higher landed in my inbox courtesy of one of the UK’s top beat centric labels, the always on point Sonic Router – an imprint I have a lot of time for due to the sheer quality of their output thus far.

Upon pressing play the first time, I was immediately thrown into the rough and ready aesthetic Sonic Router has carefully curated over the last few years with an instant flurry of hiss and analogue warped, down-pitching synth lines emerging from my speakers.  The EP’s opening number ‘Haus/Transferring Sorrow’ sees MPSF (Sri Lankan born, London based producer Suren Seneviratn) in fine form, combining lo-fi, set back drums against fuzzy analogue warmth to great effect, immediately, over the short span of the track, transporting the listener into his crusty, yet somewhat nostalgic and uplifting, texture based world.

Although the ghost of UK garage (Haus) and to a certain extent more modern styles of bass music (fish r friends and Identification) are present, the EP is firmly grounded in abstract beat territory with lolloping, lop sided groves, peppered with (at points) funky melodies and simple, deep basslines being the main order of the day.

Take for example the masterful Crac, a number that unites a lazy, Flylo-esq beat with traditional dub instrumentation, strange analogue effects and warped, constantly modulating arpeggios, like a painting by Jurgen Gorg, the working lines are present, but never detract from the feeling of the tune. In short, imperfection is present, but that is what makes it, and the EP as a whole, so appealing. The way the tunes turns on a penny, stop then start; the way the individual instrumentation and elements drop in and out in an almost random fashion never feels forced or fake, really showing off the control, precision and the singular scope of vision MPSF obviously has in spades.

To continue with the art analogy, MPSF wields his tools like a master painter uses his brush and palette, dexterously and lovingly using subtle techniques (such as the ping pong delay on the main synth line on Identification or the prominent, yet restrained, use of side-chain compression over multiple elements in fish r friends) to compliment, yet never overwhelm  the fluid and organic aesthetic that has been so carefully constructed.

The stand out track on the EP for me is the extremely dynamic closer fish r friends – the bastard offspring of the best that both the UK and LA experimentalists have ever come up with. It is the culmination of the EP and seemingly the tune that MPSF has gone the most nuts on. Every conceivable weapon in the engineer’s handbook has been subtly employed to stunning effect. The pumping compression so beloved by LA’s beatsmith’s, the ‘airy’, textured space of early era dubstep, the subtle and not so subtle modulation and effectuation of the tunes constituent parts, the strange and abstract pan positions of some of the complimentary drum-breaks, as well as many other titbits of sonic candy all combine to create something that although (as seen) is full to the brim with ‘parts’ still, somehow, manages to transcend its component elements, creating something that esoterically speaking, seems alive in its own right rather than having being  produced and constructed by a musician.

The EP is lovely – I recommend you go and buy it in its physical cassette form!