- If, after her flurry of productions last year, you were expecting Steffi's follow-up record to rely on catchy bass grooves or vocals, prepare to be surprised. Schraper is slightly less approachable than anything we've yet heard from the Dutch artist. "Slightly" being the key word. It's still warm and house-y, but there are fewer obvious hooks. In the title cut, this heads-down approach might have resulted in trackiness, if it weren't so damn well put together. Showing a deft grasp of contrast, Steffi matches a gritty bass sequence with flaring synths, sewing the two tightly together. The latter swings back and forth like a pendulum, imparting a lazy sense of rhythm at odds with the track's nimble percussion. In the end, it feels quite busy, but no individual element struggles to be heard.
Both versions of "Tank" take a more intimate approach, linking distinctive, rattling percussion along an incredibly linear—yet satisfying—path. In the string version, these beats are shaded by beautiful, airy pads. In many other tracks, the serene chords would just be background noise, but here, their simplicity adds surprising allure. Not bad for what seems intended as a DJ tool. Even the beat version, which is totally devoid of melody, seems listenable as a standalone.
Tracklist A Schraper
B1 Tank (String Version)
B2 Tank (Beat Version)