Latency

A stone scorcher of an EP to put alongside Nuel’s classic Aquaplanos with Donato Dozzy, from nearly ten years ago. Four contrasting, deeply atmospheric stages in longing — swingeing and propulsive to blissed-out and bittersweet. Terse but charged; hypnotic, never bludgeoning; soulful and warmly crafted, never mechanical. 

The sleeve of Nuel’s first Latency record, bearing a photograph of a Roman statue and screenprinted with an intense black ink, is an apt prologue for the music inside – Unveiled is both beautiful and weighty. This is expected from an artist like Nuel, real name Manuel Fogliata. He’s best known as half of Aquaplano with Donato Dozzy, and like his collaborator, his solo work maneuvers fluidly through pristine techno and ambient. Fogliata has been silent since the Aquaplano days, but he’s returned this year with more abstract aims. On Unveiled, the Italian producer puts aside the turbulence of before, yet his cinematic grandness remains. 

“OK Face” is an exception. It’s very much Aquaplano techno: dubby, atmospheric and swimming in reverb and delay. The result is mucky and psychedelic, but subtle to the point where it never quite stirs. Fogliata maintains this balance throughout the record, which works better on tracks that are more soundscape than functional. ​“Aphrobite” is a mood piece suffused with loneliness, tunneling on endlessly with vaporous synths and a single, tapping drum. ​“Morning Loving,” the record’s prettiest track, has the same density of fluttering textures, but pulses at 30 BPM slower. On ​“M_Animal,” Fogliata puts an oscillating synthesizer over gorgeously blushing ambience. Simple as it is, it captures Unveiled’s sophisticated tranquility at its most striking.