- Where "Szikra," the lead track from Kornél Kovács's last record for Studio Barnhus (the label he co-founded), felt tender, with celestial synths surrounding a lovably hedonist hook ("Let's get fucked up"), the four productions on Nincs are gracious and aloof. "Tooth," for instance, keeps a friendly distance, giving us little more than icy filters and a descending melody to groove on. It'd be easy to think the Swedish producer wasn't interested in making a house track if not for the kick drum underneath it all.
Kovács makes oddball moves here and there. Take "So So Solid," a beatless smear of chopped vocal harmonies, muffled noise and fluttering synths. You can almost imagine the track as Oneohtrix Point Never dismantling gospel music. In a lesser way, "Nordic Rave 4" folds together disparate source material—dubby patois, hand drums, angelic coos, jumpy acid lines—for a playfully leftfield roller. "Utopia, Ohio," is even brighter and bolder, despite its lack of peculiarities.
TracklistA1 Nordic Rave 4
A2 Utopia, Ohio
B1 Tooth
B2 So So Solid