Habstrakt Shows His Roots in Debut Album ‘Heritage’

On his debut album, Heritage, Habstrakt delivers an intimate journey through familiar sounds and gripping experimentation past bass house.

Since French producer Habstrakt began releasing music under the moniker, he’s been anything but conventional. His music is utterly distinct and has become synonymous with elements like dark sounds, layered textures and behemoth drops that are sharp and clamor with a metallic edge. It’s easy to identify among even the saturation of artists in dance music. Taking a step beyond his music, his creativity curves into expression that ranges from visual art to tattoos, and his ever-changing hair that has become almost a staple of his brand. For Habstrakt, it’s as though the word artist was made just for him – a perfect descriptor for a person whose music cannot be subjugated into any particular box.

With his debut Heritage, which he announced earlier this year along with a tour, the producer summarizes his decade-long career into a 15-track album. It’s a record, but it’s also a diary that dispenses his soul and who he has become throughout the years. It’s a documentary that turns the clips of his life into something that we as listeners can simply digest, enjoy, and understand. And it’s only a brief glimpse of what’s to come.

Listen to Heritage below or stream the album via your favorite music platform.

Stream Habstrakt – Heritage on Spotify:

Habstrakt touts diversity in his sound from the get-go.

Right off the bat, “Préambule“ illustrates a side of Habstrakt that we have yet to encounter in his music with a sweet piano melody leading the introduction of the album, but brewing beneath it are familiar howls of notes reminiscent of the undulating energy that he has become synonymous with. The transition to the following track, “Tonight,” is near seamless, and it sweeps with an almost foreboding aura. As vocals inject into the song, Habstrakt’s all-too-familiar signature bass cuts through with metallic inflections.

Perhaps more than any song on the album, “Call Me” featuring Notelle, is a lesson in patience and the rewards it reaps. It’s a stark contrast to any output Habstrakt has ever dropped. It simmers in a lush space that’s broken by plucky bass. Notelle’s breathy voice, that distorts as time moves forward, adds a layer of sweltering depth. There are no moments that erupt in this song – in fact, it’s quite the opposite. It stirs with angelic strings where the climax of the song should be, and it’s a welcomed change in Habstrakt’s approach that captures and maintains a moody atmosphere. Likewise, “Just Like The Rest of Us“ boasts an atmosphere that relies solely on its melody. Absent of any bass or powerful drops, it’s on songs like these where Habstrakt’s growth as a producer is most noticeable and it’s crystal clear that he’s unafraid to experiment or strip down to the basics of how melodies can move the masses just as much as hard-hitting drops can to push himself.

Heritage crosses the threshold of what genres are and challenges expectations of how they blend together.

While simplicity thrives on the album, songs like “Libre” with IMANU, “Juicy” with NOON, and “Hostile“ show how the opposite is true, too. On paper, blending trap beats, soul vocals, and techno sounds nightmarish – a cacophony with no element to string them together, but leave it to Habstrakt and IMANU to accomplish the impossible on “Libre,” which layers them into a symphony that’s as natural as honey and captures the best of each. While he’s never had a taste for confining himself to genres, “Libre” takes it to the next level. Meanwhile, “Juicy” undoubtedly calls back to Habstrakt’s affinity for hip-hop. It strays from the typical house beat and pushes into unconventional, darker territory reminiscent of horrorcore, especially as it closes with an ominous aura. “Hostile” is a nod to Habstrakt’s punk rock roots, cultivating guitar strums and rock vocals alongside a lighter, tech house approach, and another example of how the producer marries the least synergetic genres into something more than what they could accomplish on their own. It’s a special feat that highlights Habstrakt’s adaptability and lends weight to the album’s title. Heritage is a fruitful culmination of everything he was with his origins and what he can be.

Even amid a robust tracklist that oscillates between Habstrakt’s more classic sounds and experimental fusions, the artist rounds out the journey across the album with radio and club-ready songs. “Don’t Worry“ with Plastic Toys leans against more traditional elements of a house song structure, but it doesn’t take away from the track’s depth and instead, adds a refreshing and lightheartedness to the album. “Paradise“ similarly prepends to the album’s closing dance energy, and it becomes an easy task to visualize the song in a club space.

Habstrakt overcomes the greatest challenge that every artist faces in the wake of success: How do you remain close to your origins and grow at the same time? Heritage is his response to the challenge and it feels like the producer’s debut album balances the sound he has refined across the years, while unveiling a new facet to his music. It’s difficult to fully understand an artist’s journey if you haven’t been there from the start, but Heritage is as close of a roadmap to Habstrakt’s as it gets.

Habstrakt – Heritage – Tracklist:

Préambule

Tonight

Outer Space with Roderick Porter

Call Me (feat. Notelle)

Libre with IMANU

Juicy with Noon

Just Like The Rest of Us

Molotov with Malaa

Interlude

Hostile

Vision

Hollow

Don’t Worry with Plastic Toy

Paradise

ÉPILOGUE

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