Anden Push Boundaries with ‘Rewind’ EP

Anden beautifully showcases the scope of their genre-bending talents with the Rewind EP that’s landed on Yotto’s Odd One Out imprint.

If you haven’t been introduced to Anden yet, where have you been!? Jokes aside, this is a perfect place to make your introduction. Over the span of just two songs, the Rewind EP has elements of trance, house, breakbeat, and techno, just to name the broader genres. These are truly category-defying songs, but before we get too deep into the details let’s take a moment to see who Anden is and how they got here.

Brothers Tom and Pete Cuppernull are the duo we know as Anden. Their name origin identifies that “and” is a “simple connector of things”. To these brothers, the connectedness of the community was a perfect identity for them. Current fans may be surprised to learn that the brothers started as hip-hop DJs, and they also might be surprised by the classic music training that includes violin, cello, and trumpet. But when it comes down to it, aren’t the best music producers the ones with the most dynamic range and background?

The last time I saw Anden live was in 2019 when they hosted their Sound Room Live event on Governors Island. The show was intimate and inviting for all, and it left a lasting memory. So when Tom graced the NY Anjunafamily livestream this past week, he showed footage of that and other local events on his green screen, calling out names on the mic of friends and family seen in the footage and also live in the chat that night. Everyone went wild over this, and now they’ll do the same with these two tracks that just landed on Odd One Out.

Listen to Anden’s Rewind EP from your favorite platform now and continue below for the full review of the two tunes.

Stream Anden – Rewind EP on Spotify:

The Rewind EP might only be two songs, but there is a lot packed in here!

First up, the track “Rewind” drops right into a deep and driving rhythm of kicks and bass that instantly transported me to a dark and sweaty club. I’m imagining a smaller venue where all four corners have speaker stacks so I can be in the back corner and still feel the bass. After this divine intro, a set of highly tuned and almost robotic vocals are layered in, giving me goosebumps. It’s that moment in the hot club where you suddenly get the chills. Fans will love to hear that the vocals are written and recorded by Pete himself. Did I mention these guys have range?

If those goosebumps aren’t enough, this vocal section leads to a completely mesmerizing drop!

I was so enthralled with the effects here that I called on a colleague who is more technical than me to help dissect this a bit. I usually avoid getting too deep in the technical weeds, but something about these sounds had me wanting to simply understand them since they were speaking to me in another language. Ultimately, there’s a low-frequency oscillation (LFO) which dubstep fans know quite well. Then the LFO is phase-shifted and as it flows from wide to tight and back, it’s just so entrancing. Listening on repeat for this review, I’m still surprised that I got the chills on each and every replay!

Anden equates this EP to an old school 45, where “Rewind” is the single, and “Breathe” is the B-side.

Unlike the simple driving rhythm that opens “Rewind” with “Breathe” we’re treated to a complicated mix of percussion sounds – kicks, snares, maracas, and more. The breakbeat sound demands movement from its listener as the synths layer in and the one repeated vocal, the word breathe, is dropped in like a cherry on top of this tasty nightclub sundae.

I remember when we wrote the original demo for ‘Breathe’ (starting back in 2018), and it was so unlike anything we’d ever produced. We didn’t really know what to do with it – this breakbeat to 4×4 to breakbeat arrangement was just “out there”. In the end, it ended up balancing ‘Rewind’ as a thought-provoking B-side, and we’re happy for these records to have found a home on Odd One Out.

The meat of the song transitions through a few variations on the same synth, each a little wilder than the next. Then, as if reading your mind that we’ve had just enough weird and wild sounds, the layers peel back and we head into a drop. We return to the repeated vocal on top of truly luscious synth melodies, all reminiscent of the wilder part of the song, while maintaining a smoothness that just envelops you. We finally return to the original theme as the closing breaks down and the blanket around us is gently removed. Gorgeous!

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