'Disconnect' is a three track taster of the forthcoming album on Novamute, 'Closer'. The title track, an edit of one of the album tracks, initially begins very much in the Plastikman mould, all delays and atonal elastic hooks, before a very uncharacteristic vocoder rears its (rather ugly) head. Its not so much the use of a vocoder that bothers me, its just how contrived it ends up sounding. Maybe he is "enjoying the pain", but I, however, am not. A bassline, which threatens to erupt into something useful, quickly subsides before the track ends abruptly.

'Headcase' clocks in at over ten minutes, not a lot happens as such, but there is incredible attention to detail, as is usually the case with Mr Hawtin's work. Each stab is individually panned, reversed, delayed, to very little ultimate effect. A grimy bitcrushed clap manages to increase the urgency later on, and a neck-stiffening hi-hat eventually pokes through for the last couple of minutes of the track. Still a little underwhelming I'm afraid though.

'Digital/Divide' proves to be the most enjoyable track on the release, crisp kicks, snares and triplet hi-hats and bass set the scene for some rather nice pads to come in late on in the track. Shame they're not in for longer.

On the whole, the release is an interesting listening experience, but one that won't cause a major stir.

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