Outer Edges - Noisia

Noisia make drum n bass seem so easy.

One of the most experienced acts in the bass music scene, the now retired Noisia project has forever earned its spot in the upper echelons of electronic music, being a big inspiration for massive outfits like Skrillex amongst countless others; and "Outer Edges" pretty much summarizes why. This project sees Noisia exploring the weird and wonderful creative outskirts of neurofunk, embracing innovation and striving for some of the most groundbreaking work they've ever done — no small feat, when all Noisia do is break the ground over and over again. But they left no floor behind this time, and filled the remaining void with polished, majestic, aggressive neurofunk, pummelling bassline after bassline after monstrous bassline into equally monstrous leads and an array of ideas that constantly slap you from different angles, whether that be the vocal chop work in "Tentacles", the distorted "Sinkhole", or the glitchy "Miniatures". Renowned immaculate mixdowns and masterful sound design are the technical reinforcement to a collection of innovative tunes — structure-wise, mood-wise, sound-design-wise — that "Outer Edges" fires off, one by one, for nearly an hour's worth of runtime that never lets up and never loses its allure nor its grandeur. Noisia are uncannily good at creating grand builds and punchy drops, and it shows all throughout, not once taking their foot off the pedal whilst always maintaining a meticulous eye on the technical quality of the record, bringing absolute heat backed up by the surefire knowledge of pristine production. Even the inclusion of an intro and interludes, which I typically wouldn't like on an album like this in which there are no narrative or cohesive elements, feel tasteful here, contributing to whatever atmosphere the surrounding tracks build and always furthering the agenda of the project. "Outer Edges", for all its branching out sideways into unchartered creative territory, does very well to thrust itself in a straight line as far as it can go — and trust me, that's very far.

I don't think it would be a stretch to call this the best bass project this side of the 2010s, at least in terms of production quality. Where their debut "Split The Atom" was bold, experimental and revolutionary, "Outer Edges" is its mature, enlightened older brother. Noisia have always been revered — and, clearly, for good reason, too — but "Outer Edges" completely blows everything out of the water. Although it struggles as a cohesive project, this is an incredible piece of work in which I am finding it very difficult to find fault in. For pristine sound quality, scene-shattering creativity, and legendary neuro production, look no further than this.