As a blogger, I receive several dozen emails daily from a variety of folks trying to put me on to their respective projects. And amazingly, a great deal of those emails are coming from artists based overseas – generally from Turkey, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. I recently received an email from a Wellington, New Zealand-based electronica act by the name of Esher. 

Influenced by the likes of Chromeo, Grimes and others, ESHER released an instrumental EP/mixtape with an incredibly cinematic feel, as though it could easily be the soundtrack of an action thriller or to a heady drama set in the near future. In some way, thanks to the ominous synths in a track like “Playground,” I’m reminded quite a bit of Umberto‘s Confrontations but with variations – the subtle use of piano and a sample of children at play. Although it has an ominous buzz, “Reason I Left You” has a delicate, atmospheric beauty that slowly unfurls towards the listener. “Redhook” and “DMT” ARE the most futuristic sounding tracks on the EP – in some way, they sound as though it would be perfect for a chase scene between our movie’s protagonist and the villain’s henchmen through a chaotic, metropolis. However, “DMT” manages to shimmer with a subtle beauty. And EP closing track, “Gone” has subtle nods to industrial and minimalist electronica thanks to swirling electronics. Check out how it slowly builds in intensity before fading out. 

The EP manages to have an eerily haunting presence that lingers upon repeated plays.