Review: HAAi’s Dark, Raw Psychedelia In Systems Up,Windows Down EP

HAAi | Systems Up, Windows Down EP | Mute

Release Date: 14 November, 2019

Australian born, London based DJ & producer Teneil Throssel first found herself an audience due to her love of psychedelia; a musician formerly immersed in the raw grit of the Australian punk scene, Throssel’s passion for psychedelic rock followed her to London, where her band Dark Bells was formed – yet, her taste evolved into a genre-splicing mash-up as she took on a new path – gracing the dancefloor every night of the week with an exuberant energy in her DJ sets.

Under her moniker HAAi, Throssel’s musical influences gleam in an experimental and fresh sound; unafraid to explore genres not usually associated with the club sound – HAAi’s sound is filled with bold colour, swirling patterns – spinning psychedelia. After her debut EP ‘Monik’ in 2018 – Throssell returns with her latest EP ‘System’s Up, Windows Down’; a unique showcase of her technical and creative skill, released via Mute.

The album opener ‘Don’t Flatter Yourself Love’ blazes with raw grit; an ominous static expanding into a cacophony of swells and samples – the atmosphere foreboding and tense in tone, distorted engines rumbling in a dark crescendo. A rich pounding beat grows urgent, a trance-like noise encapsulating the need for movement – confident and dotted in obscure textures. A segue into submersion leaves the cacophony behind for a drowning, heavy beat, gradual in its progression as a wall of percussion and extraterrestrial textures builds a confident, alien sound.

‘CHONKIBOI’ overwhelms in a sci-fi jungle, the uniformity of the driving beat mesmerising in its repetition; a vibrant enigmatic rhythm building a dance lush with darkness. Martian textures layer carefully into a memorable acceleration, growing dramatic in tone – the track’s  bold use of sampling cultivating a powerful energy as women’s voices grow clearer; chanting and singing in unison, raw and hypnotising – a sound contrasting in it’s organic and extraterrestrial feel.

Feature Image: HAAi, image lifted via Facebook