Credit: Ophelia Records
Data Séance
[By: Zebbler Encanti Experience]
Genre: Dubstep
Rating: 70
Cohesiveness: 62
Track quality: 69
Beginner-friendly? nah
Written 2025/11/08
Zebbler Encanti Experience's latest album is an proactive, intricate examination of the world we live in, a world domineered by data as its ultimate resource.
Consisting of visual designer Zebbler and producer Encanti, Zebbler Encanti Experience (or ZEE for short) continue to push the boundaries of bass music in the LP format. I'll admit that Encanti's style of production sometimes doesn't quite cater to my tastes, but I cannot deny its innovativeness, and on "Data Séance", elaborate craftsmanship and brilliant sound design shines through without much of the rougher-around-the-edges elements that I tend to dislike. "Data Séance" is, simply put, cleanly produced, and it still carves its own territory outside the box of bass music.
But what makes this album particularly unique is its use of real-life data. Artificial intelligence in music has produced widespread panic amongst artists - since it threatens the humanity of artistry itself - and most unanimously agree to stay away from it, but ZEE consider alternative prospects. Ever the entrepreneurs, they harness it.
Don't get it twisted: "Data Séance" is by no means an AI-generated album. But what ZEE do is warp their production using customised neural networks - trained on their own lengthy catalogue of music - generating largely nonsensical soundbytes that were then sampled in the tracks of the album themselves. Certainly this has cleared a path for much of the unconventional songwriting "Data Séance" seems to opt for, by way of including these artifically created sounds, and though this is probably not a sustainable framework for a long-term career, it gives this album a unique flair. Despite generating sounds, "Data Séance" ensures that it's thoroughly unique by taking inspiration from itself.
Musically, however, this is a project that does end up feeling a little tired by the end. While many tracks are lightning in a bottle, the other tracks feel a little overshadowed as a result; as the album follows through its glitchy, timeless style over and over again, the weaker (or simply the more reserved) tracks bring the holistic album down a lot. It's funny: "Data Séance" is a different breed of production entirely, supplemented by artificial notion and Encanti's experimental mastery, and yet its drawback is ironically a form of sonic natural selection.
The process of producing this, as a project, is thoroughly interesting. Perhaps it acts as a small-scale revolution against data collection, perhaps it's a masterclass in avant-garde concepts. And, honestly, the sound itself is equally interesting. But whilst the neural-network-powered "Data Séance" seems to learn from itself, it also cannot see past itself.
Listen on Spotify here.
Inference [Structural] | (/100)
ZEE opens this album with quite a nice chopped-up intro. There isn't much musicality, but all the vocal chops of various singers blend together to create a weirdly textured atmosphere to lead into the next track.
OXO [Intense] | (/100)
"Data Séance" wastes no time, I suppose, as it slides into the heavier experimental bass music ZEE enjoys so much. Whilst their style feels a little rough here in "OXO", the brash sampling and the songwriting definitely make up for it, particularly with the techno switch and hybrid trap finale.
Not Today [Melodic] | (/100)
A shift to a brighter, more upbeat tone for "Not Today" feels well-transitioned from the previous track, and future riddim seems like it fits the vocoded sampling style of this track quite well - but the heavier sections stick out like sore thumbs. The crunchy second drop is very well-made but short-lived.
Not Real [Switchup] | (/100)
As suggested by the title, this works very well in tandem with "Not Today". Where "Not Today" was energetic and maximalist, "Not Real" is a minimal, disgustingly powerful bass track, with a jagged flow and magnificent progression over the second techno movement.
Contrabandwidth [Standout] | (/100)
Frantic cut right from the onset, with a quick lead and a tempo that taunts you right until it spirals off into infinity, replaced with a filthy lead and accompanying bassline that quickly rips through the soundstage.
Blind Summit [Standout] | (/100)
Tantalising techno fakeout quickly switches up into a buildup which feels like an out-of-body experience, with the cascading vocal samples and the complete disregard for tension in exchange for a songwriting signature that keeps you on your toes.
Pathseeker [Atmospheric] | (/100)
Pseudo-cinematic samples that do feel a little cheesy, but the synths in the back fit the atmosphere, and when the track finally comes into its own, the swinging atmosphere takes over. Unfortunately the track is a little too big for its boots and the decision to take the psytrance final movement ends up being somewhat bloated.
Hidden States [Intense] | (/100)
The flow is perhaps a little too interesting - meanwhile, the sound design isn't interesting enough. For all its stabby potential, "Hidden States" somewhat feels like fluff at this stage of the album.
Hasanlu Lovers [Upbeat] | (/100)
Intricate sound design and a really well-made, almost bubbly texture to the whole thing. This is a track that feels both springy and bordering on intense, without actually being intense.
In This Moment [Upbeat] | (/100)
w/ vangran
In the first half ZEE executes more songwriting nonsense, which is always fun to see but is getting a little tiring by this point of the album. The vocals from vangran come through in the second half, but I do wish she had a little more presence on the track.
Eternal Recursion [Atmospheric] | (/100)
ZEE begins to close off this album now, with "Eternal Recursion" as a more atmospheric 4-on-the-floor cut that uses a longer progression model to land on its final, more minimal, mature movement.
Hallucinations Marked For Deletion [Intense] | (/100)
Not entirely sure I like this idea of going hard for the final track (after toning it down for the tracks before this, as if poised to end it on a more chill note), and I'm not generally a fan of the first movement either. Still, the second half of the track doesn't pull any punches - it's a little overdistorted in places, but the sound design and composition works very well.
- Not Real (/100)
- Contrabandwidth (/100)
- Blind Summit (/100)
- Eternal Recursion (/100)
- Hasanlu Lovers (/100)
- OXO (/100)
- Inference (/100)
- Not Today (/100)
- Hallucinations Marked For Deletion (/100)
- In This Moment w/ vangran (/100)
- Pathseeker (/100)
- Hidden States (/100)