Orbiting Souls by B12

Delsin present a new EP by B12 aka Steve Rutter entitled Orbiting Souls, a name which comes from the fact the veteran artist has recently spent contemplating the loss of a friend and believes we are surrounded by lost souls and spirits.

This is B12's second EP this year following on from the Bokide 325 release on Soma Records and comes years after still acclaimed album like ElectroSoma and TimeTourist on Warp Records back in the 90s. Orbiting Souls is a somewhat complex journey, a representation of inner Bi Polar opposites; isolation; sadness, but also acknowledging the great and wonderful things around that swirl and support and energise us.

Up first, 'Two Stories' is a steady drum track that allows sad pads to wallow before out of nowhere the 909 comes in to flip the script once more. 'Nautilis Horizon' is a pure and classic B12 joint with epic strings and pads swirling over elegant 808/909 as they tell their sad stories and emit deep and lonely fleeciness.

'It's in My Blood' is a fusion of the electro and techno that runs through the artists bones. It makes for a slick and spaced out groove that slithers along with gorgeous strings, building until the 808 get its chance to let go with some classic beats. 'Nothing' opens with beats, pops and chimes that all seem to have a life of their own but still somehow seem ordered and structured, organising themselves into some kind of alien AI as a rolling retro basslines ties them all together.

Finally, 'Universal Alignment' is a rather chaotic drum track with a beautifully ordered baseline that adds a constant reminder of an outside structure; the strings and sounds that follow are like the elements of the the universe all in their place holding everything together. It closes out a perfectly formed sound world that is both absorbing and cerebral and comes with a full colour sleeve by Boris Tellegen.