Latency

With Auftakt, Mura Oka delivers a debut album of remarkable depth and ambition—an immersive journey through shadowy electronics, fractured rhythms, and quiet melodic tension. Building on the experimental spirit of earlier Latency releases, this record feels both exploratory and deeply focused, inhabiting a sonic space where ambient textures and leftfield techno structures blur.

The album opens in cinematic fashion: a descent into murky atmospheres shaped by minor keys, cavernous reverbs, and unsettling tonal smears. ​“Log In Oct 13” follows closely, deepening the mood but hinting at forward movement—rhythms begin to surface in broken, skeletal form, reminiscent of early Autechre but softened by a sense of melancholy.

“Brain Waves” then takes a sharper turn, presenting a loop-heavy framework built from alien synth burbles and taut drum machine programming. It’s the album’s most locked-in moment—hypnotic in its repetition, though intentionally more static than the fluid motion of surrounding tracks.

Elsewhere, Mura Oka allows melody to rise more freely. On ​“990933,” delicate downtempo figures shimmer through a blue-toned haze, while ​“Horizon Rouge” offers a study in restraint and minimal techno introspection. The closing piece, ​“Xqdel Eit,” elevates the record to a stirring finale—layering complex drum sequences beneath luminous pads in a composition that feels both cerebral and emotionally resonant.

The standout moment, however, may be ​“Zr Dnt”—the album’s only true 4/​4 structure. Mechanical and glowing, it pulses with metallic synth flashes and low-end heft, standing in deliberate contrast to the more abstract explorations that surround it. Its impact is sharpened by its rarity, highlighting Mura Oka’s less-is-more approach.

Auftakt doesn’t aim for grand reinvention—it finds its strength in nuance, tension, and understatement. A subtle and rewarding exploration of experimental electronics and subdued groove, the album is a defining moment in Latency’s early trajectory: spacious, strange, and quietly unforgettable.