Reviews 390: Cousin & Priori
In 2023, two of my favorite contemporary artists Cousin and Priori joined forces for a collaborative 12" aimed at maximal headspace and body dance hypnosis, and the result was Numina, released jointly by Animalia and naff recordings. Then at the end of 2025, these two practitioners of deeply tripped out groove met yet again, this time delivering Fly In Amber...released as a combined effort between naff and Cousin's own Moonshoe Records. Similar to Numina, the individual sonic characteristics of each producer blend and blur seamlessly, and across the five varied tracks of Fly in Amber, there are strong airs of dub techno meeting tribalistic progressive, with the 12” encompassing a range of moods and atmospheres from the left-field and experimental club music spectrums. As might be expected with each artist's involvement, there are definitive connections to tripped-out ambient, chillout, and also to psychedelic sound design, and the mind-altering mixes are saturated with hallucinatory studio fx, and also with hisses, breaths, and hums that give everything a textural physicality.
Cousin & Priori - Fly in Amber (Moonshoe / naff recordings, 2025) In “Slip Logic,” off beat rhythms stutter-step over patterns of futuristic acid, while dub fx reflect around the mix and MC cut ups flow in and out. Layers of hovering haze and liquid humidity sit over the stereo field and the rhythms grow progressively more hyperactive, which causes the body to get lost in a tribalistic hyperspeed energy groove. And so it goes for the rest of the track…with these ecstatic technoid come ups leading to dubbed out cool downs, and then back again. Arctic chords and dub techno beats introduce “Softening,” and industrial snare strokes bring enhanced evocations of Basic Channel…with the hypnotic flow enticing the body and mind into a deep dancefloor spell. Telephonic tracers stretch strangely in time, blooms of intensely textural sub bass grow into space, and what eventually evolves from the various layers is a trance-inducing journey into ethereal landscapes of cold and cathartic club mesmerism…with a vibe that recalls early Monolake perhaps. Barely there cymbal patterns and rimshots land with maximal drama against the minimalist flow, and chittering space fx intertwine with sparkling chimes to evoke a blanket of starlight.
The A-side finishes with the title track, and pads hovering like primordial breaths and dawn fog. A lone four-four kick pushes through mist, acid lines with a soft reptilian resonance play against rimshots and morphing toms, and once the rhythm assumes its full form, a sanded and subdued groove of prog house propulsion reveals itself. Increasingly euphoric rave textures billow in from the surrounding miasma…not quite overtaking the mix…but sitting just below the surface, giving everything the feeling of some daydream rendering of an ambient trance epic.
Two tracks occupy the B-side, and the first is “Rummage,” which returns to environments of Chain Reaction dub techno...riding riddims of heavy club intensity while hypnotizing cymbal patterns work against delaying chords that seem to fade into granular mist. Tripped out switch-ups and samples manipulations transition the mix into passages of more urgent intensity, where the chord patterns transform into cavernous washes of liquid abstraction...all while insectoid squelches hypnotize through increasingly celestial soundscapes of vaporous string synthesis. At the same time, distorting bell tone melodics thread throughout the entire track, landing like drops of golden light. The second track on side B is the awesomely named “Stepping Stoned,” which foregrounds a very Cousin heavy rhythm that leans towards heady tribal hypnotism and magical forest fire music, with world ritual drums and sub-bass pressure uniting for deep groove mesmerism. Layering polyrhythms add multiplying splashes of color as epic blasts of spiritual vocal harmony intermix with growling bursts of distorted bass, and the track grows progressively more propulsive as shakers start moving in double-time, giving the ceremonial dance a deeper sense of intensity and focus. And all the while, heavenly pads hover just out of view in the surrounding ambient environment, immersing everything with a harmonious glow.
(images from my personal copy)
