Looking Class / Full Circle Moment Kölsch / Tim Engelhardt

For the latest release on his Ipso imprint, Danish maestro Kölsch adds Cologne producer Tim Engelhardt to a roster of stunning collaborators (Dubfire, Tiga, Sasha, Michael Mayer, Magit Cacoon…), and on their new double-header “Looking Class” and “Full Circle Moment”, the aesthetics of these singular music makers dovetail perfectly. Engelhardt’s history is one of precocious creativity and idiosyncratic spirit – releasing his first EP at 14, his productions quickly found homes with various high-profile labels, such as Poker Flat, Watergate, and Stil Vor Talent; he’s also toured the world as a DJ and landed himself a residency at the New York club Avant Gardner. His meeting with Rune Reilly Kölsch, whose deeply melodic techno productions are teeming with rich detail, makes perfect sense – they’re both musicians invested in making deeply personal, welcoming productions. Engelhardt’s studio meeting with Kölsch is a thrill-seeking mission, but one with plenty of poetry in its elegant structures. The glassy, shivery riff that punctuates “Looking Class” intersects chugging arpeggios and textural flourishes that spray and swoop across its surface, building to a heart-rending crescendo. On “Full Circle Moment”, the duo show their melancholy, reflective side, with a beautiful, lambent chord progression spiralling through the track, while they paint lush melodies and waves of blissed-out tone onto its swoony surfaces.