HI-LO debuts on Drumcode with peak time jewel ‘Hypnos’: Listen

HI-LO, the underground alter-ego of Oliver Heldens debuts on Adam Beyer‘s Drumcode with a powerful two-tracker. ‘Hypnos‘ will be out on November 5 via Drumcode but the title track is already available for streaming.

Oliver Heldens is an electronic music phenomenon, something that is indisputable. To make a long story short, he arrived and knocked it out of the park. However, living in the shadow of his stardom doesn’t seem to suit the personality of the Dutch producer. In recent years, he has been maturing his darker side with his HI-LO moniker. Unravelling a darker and deeper sound, somewhere in the realm of super bass, HI-LO delivers elegant, foregrounded, and consistent techno. Navigating Greek mythology, he has already presented true relics like ‘Poseidon‘ on his Heldeep Records, ‘Zeus‘ on mau5trap, ‘Kronos‘ and ‘Athena‘ on Octopus Records. More recently, the techno realm saw one of the most unlikely but powerful pairings of the year happen when HI-LO teamed up with Reinier Zonneveld. Together they produced ‘Saw of Olympus‘, ‘Balearic Mornings‘ and ‘Existencia‘ which, along with ‘HADES‘ and ‘Check‘ were released via Filth on Acid.

Adam Beyer has made his Drumcode label one of techno’s most prodigious nests and couldn’t help but welcome the undoubted talent of HI-LO. Drumcode’s releases had been gaining prominence on Heldens’ Heldeep Radio, letting it be guessed that Adam Beyer’s radar would soon catch on. In a grand debut, Drumcode delivers a hypnotic two-tracker work from HI-LO that promises to crater the scene wide. Anticipation builds up to the release date but this sneak peek given by the title track makes it clear that ‘Hypnos’ fits the Drumcode concept like a glove without losing HI-LO’s demarcated personality.

The beat has a punctuated and choppy rhythm yet full of groove. Instead of the typical drier techno beat, HI-LO delivers a dynamic and inflated percussion, in a perfect dichotomy between industrial and organic. The hi-hats are rich, making you almost taste metal. The bass is groovy and catchy, kidnapping you to the dancefloor. The build of the song is delicately juxtaposed, resulting in an absolutely beautiful drop. The track emanates an extremely rhythmic and content-packed heartbeat, tribal-infused techno ready to blow up the dancefloor.

It’s another work with the blood of HI-LO, designed to make you dance and party with an open soul. Incredible. Listen to ‘Hypnos’ below and let yourself be bewitched by this peak time jewel.

Image Credit: Romy Treebusch