Jonas Rathsman “New Generation (KX)”

Remember when the French Express team reigned supreme? While arena-size EDM was being force-fed to America en masse, Perseus, Moon Boots, Jonas Rathsman, Isaac Tichauer and Chris Malinchak represented the option play. They were on a path to becoming THE sound, but after a supposedly stinky licensing deal surrounding Malinchak’s hit record “So Good to Me” left a bad taste in their mouths, things went south for the crew’s momentum. Solo careers were pursued, and Jonas Rathsman came out on top.

“New Generation” is the darker, more Berlin-esque older brother to “Wolfsbane,” which came out earlier this year on Disclosure’s Method White imprint. This time around, Rathsman lands on the esteemed techno label Kompakt, which shows the progress he’s made since putting out “Tobago” four years ago. With swirling pads, elongated bass growls and reverbed shrieks that sound like they were sampled from Moderat’s “Bad Kingdom,” this is Rathsman’s strongest work to date.

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