Throughout Scottish beatmaker Rustie’s career, he has specialized in frantic, maximalist soundscapes that sound like angels screaming as they fall from the towering slopes of heaven. However, both he and his fans were slightly let down by his second album “Green Language,” which had slightly too many features and a little too much crossover appeal. Rustie recently remedied these issues with a surprise release of his newest LP, “EVENIFUDONTBELIEVE”, which succeeds at capitalizing on and advancing his talents for gigantic production and hectic melody.
The tripped-out pink fuzz obscuring the sky on the album’s cover can give listeners a good idea of the color and feel of the tape. Opening with spacey swells of cotton-candy flavored synth stabs that immediately drop into hyperspeed dance and trap breakdowns, the spirit of high energy and oversaturation remains consistent throughout. Tracks like “Atlantean Airship” unexpectedly pound bass into your skull, with valleys of lush, spacey vocals punctuated by peaks of fuzzy distorted bass and clattering snare rolls.
The album further stands out through its unconventional mixing techniques and sonic engineering. Rustie is no stranger to pulling together massively complex arrangements with impeccable clarity and volume consistency, as he proves through his previous works. On “EVENIFUDONTBELIEVE,” Rustie eschews tradition and gets creative with drums and bass that push decibel limits in stark contrast to their softer lead ups. This technique lends incredible impact to his already wild transitions and leads to a dynamic listening experience with decent speakers or headphones due to the heavy bass.
Standout tracks like “Peace Upzzz” and “Your Goddezz” exemplify this technique’s effectiveness. The same squealing synth lines repeated throughout the album slowly build tension before brief whiplash inducing spirals into insanity as the volume is ratcheted upwards. Rustie playing with his listeners’ expectations and attention spans is integral to the tape working as well as it does. The sonic and arrangement structures subvert standard tropes of a subgenre that Rustie himself played a large part in developing and inspiring. In this way he continues to do what he does best, pushing the music forward to places nobody could have imagined prior.
The album’s uniform cohesiveness amidst its creativity makes it feel like one long musical idea, rather than a random collection of singles. From beginning to end there are no low points, and the themes stay fresh and interesting enough to keep you from wanting to turn anything else on for days. Let the album ride on repeat for a while and your life will be soundtracked by rainbow dolphins on ecstasy squealing over filthy fast rave beats. “EVENIFUDONTBELIEVE” is a highly recommended piece of art but may not be for the faint of heart.
