Artist: Jeremy Inkel
Title: Hijacker
Genre: Electronica / EBM / Techno
Release Date: 6th November 2020
Label: Artoffact Records
Album Review
In early 2018 one of the most talented musicians of our time passed away: JEREMY INKEL who was a part of FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY, LEFT SPINE DOWN and who made significant contributions to DELERIUM and NOISE UNIT. Those are big names in music history already which the young INKEL worked with. Now, almost three years after his passing, the very talented musician and producer gets a final post mortem release. If one look at the successful career of the young INKEL retrospectively, the album ‘Hijacker’ will certainly be faced with high expectations.
The album starts as if TERENCE FIXMER or some other Berlin related Techno artists would have produced for FLA. ‘Embrace’ is somewhere in between Techno and North American EBM, enriched with Dub sounds and many detailed samples. A very lustrous opening track! The former comes even more out on ‘House Party on Day 2’. Though it evolves to a different level of energy at some point, leaving the impression go as if the listener would be dancing in nightclub in Germany’s capital right now. ‘Robot Bitches’ immediately shows the exact same face in sound and style, settling to a more Dub driven setup. This is meant in a way of a very extensive use of effective synths and typical sounds and samples. The song definitely knows how to hypnotize. But you can’t expect less from an experienced artist of this calibre.
And as if JEREMY INKEL would have read these lines, ’Hypnotized’ comes along. The path started is continued and this piece even goes one step further. INKEL was a very skilled songwriter, which he obviously showed in countless places, but he was never one-dimensional. While the track pulls the listener deeper and deeper into hypnosis, some more far-reaching soundscapes open up. The time has come for a break. ‘Haunted House’ begins in the best Ambient manner and develops to a different world of music. The comparatively short song makes use of nested drones, to put it gently. The feeling is what the title says: A thousand voices and sounds, nothing to be dancing to. Where ‘Haunted House’ left you in a dreamy mood, ‘Lucid’ picks the listener up and takes you to yet another highly recommended dance floor killer. This song could easily have been a song for FLA in their Dub driven era some years ago, there is no doubt about that. Put in the voice of BILL LEEB and off they go.
The album now comes to a different chapter. Again ‘ She Wore Blue Lipstick’ starts like a typical Techno hit. And it stays exactly right there. As if it has only been a harbinger for the following song, ‘I Don’t Need Your Money’, with its catchy bassline, synth sounds and first use of real singing unquestionably is the master hit of the album. Play it loud! That is pure perfection! With ‘WAYVY’ JEREMY INKEL can be attested to have been one of the most skilled songwriters on the other hand. A song could hardly be more varied. It ranges from parts in which you don’t know where to listen first to parts that remind you of THE PRODIGY. The ten minute ‘Dig’ sets another highlight, it is the next song that you would expect to be dancing to in an extended night out in Berlin. It surely drives one into a certain weekend mood.
‘Small Town Bad Decisions’ heralds the album’s final section. Believe it or not, the song immediately catches the listener where ‘Dig’ has stopped. The feet move as if by magic and when you close your eyes you can even smell fog. Not the situation to be at the bar to refill your drink for sure, you should wait to focus on your fluid balance. When the song is over, you will need it. ‘Take That’ would be such a perfect moment. The song is fun but gets worn out soon. However ‘Bounce’ demands the last of your power reserves. One last dance, one last drink. You open your eyes, it is Sunday noon. Time to leave and get some sleep, because Monday comes closer and closer.
Apart from a few small exceptions, ‘Hijacker’ has definitely been made for club nights. Hopefully a lot of DJs are going to spin this record when the clubs re-open. If they don’t, just do not hesitate to add the name JEREMY INKEL to the wish list – if there is something like that, because it is not common in the Techno world but luckily it is in other genres. Anyway, sooner or later you will get thrown some of these tracks straight to your dancing feet, that can be accepted as pre-supposable. The mix is perfect, there are only a few spots where the album could have been technically improved. But that would be penny-pinching. The album as a whole comes close to perfection.
Tracklist
01. Embrace
02. House Party on Day 2
03. Robot Bitches
04. Hypnotized
05. Haunted House
06. Lucid
07. She Wore Blue Lipstick
08. I Don’t Need Your Money
09. WAYVY
10. Dig
11. Small Town Bad Decisions
12. Take That
13. Bounce
Line-up
Jeremy Inkel - Music & Production
Website
https://frontlineassembly.bandcamp.com/album/hijacker
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9.5
Sound: 9.5
Total: 9.5 / 10
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