Latency

Latency welcomes Melbourne’s Kane Ikin with Basalt Crush, a richly tactile collection of ambient techno explorations. Following his acclaimed releases on This Thing and Type, Ikin continues to refine his distinctive sound—one that balances rhythmic suggestion with atmospheric depth.

Across six tracks, Basalt Crush blurs the line between club experimentation and introspective sound design. On the A-side, ​“Echoic” opens with elegant, decaying string tones before sliding into ​“Autophasic,” a spectral, electro-acoustic composition of haunted resonance and friction. ​“Gestalt” follows, hinting at dancefloor momentum with flickers of rhythm and ghosted basslines—somewhere between early dub techno and the moodier corners of Pye Corner Audio.

The B-side dives deeper: ​“Street Flare” introduces a stepping bassline and crisp rimshots, wrapped in gauzy textures that give the track both body and space. The closing piece, ​“Grid,” is a masterclass in balance—diaphanous low-end underpins brittle high-frequency detail, producing a delicate yet grounded sound field you can practically lean into.

Basalt Crush is an immersive, slow-burning listen—bridging ambient abstraction and subtle rhythmic propulsion with remarkable finesse. A strong addition to the evolving Latency landscape.