REVIEW: HAAi - Systems Up, Windows Down EP
HAAI is one step closer to perfecting her unique sound…
There is something about HAAi’s music which perfectly captures the musical climate. On the one hand, it packs the sorta techno punch you expect from entering a raucous warehouse rave. On the other hand, her jittery jungle rhythms are so throwback it is one plugged-in microphone away from MC’ing ‘Wicked (a), wicked, Junglist massive'. She’s not afraid to indulge in chord movements either, and thick, glistening electronica melodies can appear out of nowhere. Oh, and it is all anchored in the fuck-you attitude of nineties rock. Quite a combo.
For a thorough example of this mishmash approach, look no further than her 2018 winning Essential Mix. It’s one wild ride and even features the Mortal Kombat theme song (quieten down my beating nineties heart).
Of course, taking all those seemingly disparate influences to make something cohesive would be quite a challenge. There are glimpses of that on her own label Coconut Beats, but with new EP Systems Up, Windows Down, HAAi goes one step closer to cracking that code.
With the sound of multiple malfunctioning engines whirring and wheezing towards a massive kick, ‘Don’t Flatter Yourself’ starts off bonkers enough. And the frenetic nature of the percussion only illuminates the chaos. ‘6666’ follows the same blueprint, a crazy DJ tool-like intro with some demented samples clear the way for a warehouse techno beat forged in hell. Psychedelic would be an apt description for both, but that’s almost too subdued a descriptor. Maybe Haunted House Techno is more suited?
‘Stop Looking At Me Swan’ stands out as the most interesting. There is a phantasm-like quality to the melody, evoking peers like Boards of Canada. Around the fractured rhythms and drum fills, floating vocals and other effects vibrate in and out of like a broken dream.
Both ‘CHONKIBOI' and 'Systems Up, Windows Down’ go straight for the dance floor jugular. The former is compressed with a bass line crackling with so much energy it lays on top the track like an electric blanket. And on the former, an euphoric breakdown and delinquent synth can’t stop it being the most unashamed techno cut on the EP.
It feels like the elements of every other track were packed into ‘It's Something We Can All Learn From’: broken beats, 4/4 changes, clipped vocals, jungle percussion and strange ethnic samples. It is the most deranged sounding track on the EP.
No matter how hard or psychedelic the sounds, HAAi’s music is always injected with a loose sense of fun. This is an EP to drop when the smoke machines are running thick, and the air is filled with tiger balm. Or, as the EP name would suggest, this is one to play loud on car stereos with the windows down.