E.S.A. - I Detach

ESA is one of the few acts in the electronic scene who I come back to over and over understanding that there is going to be a new hit every time he releases a piece of music. Recent years has seen the artist upping his game by tapping into his visual aesthetic; videos of 'The Scorn', 'Like Meat', and (my personal favorite) 'Eat Their Young' have been giving fans a glimpse into ESA's design. He has even partnered with Kari Bailey for a choreographed routine of 'Let the Sinful Sparrow Sing' off of their 2013 album 'Themes of Carnal Empowerment Pt. 2". That focus continue with their latest EP "I Detach" and the music video that accompanies it. 


The theme of the title track is the plight faced by many women around the world. Jamie Blacker explained this in detail: I wanted to tell a story about a character suffering from detachment in the most artistic way I could, whilst touching on the chain of trauma and a commentary on some of the issues I feel are important to highlight, namely control unto women and the breaking down and building up of those around us.

The noble intention is noted, but the message of a song can only be as powerful as the beats that funnel through it. And ESA does not disappoint. The song begins with nothing but a whistle, but the five second sound is quickly washed away by rough synths that break into an industrial techno beat around the thirty second mark. ESA's trademark ability to make danceable songs for dark clubs has not gone away; in fact, it has only improved since I last reviewed his work. The vocals on the song have ESA's unique, faded shouts but also contain spoken word like lyrics. But these spoken word segments sound like they were influenced by throat-singing; just check out the one-minute and thirty-five second mark to see what I mean. ESA continues to mix the whistling from the intro throughout the song and makes room for old-school, swing music around the two-minute and ten-second mark. It breaks up the song, made me raise an eyebrow, but was quickly dissipated by the big industrial-techno beat. 

The magic in ESA lies within Blacker's ability to pull so many different sounds, noises, and samples into one song and make it all sound cohesive. And 'I Detach' is no different. 

Attached to the EP are remixes from Mechanical Vein and MORIS BLAK. Mechanical Vein commits to speeding up Blacker's vocals and provides a wicked glitchy and experimental one-minute intro. Following that, Mechanical Vein's drum'n'bass-meets-metal beats take over and transform the song into a completely different beast than what was originally presented. MORIS BLAK's bass driven beats take over the song and polymorphs the song into an electro monster.  Well done to these two remixers. 

At this point, I'm not really sure that reviews are necessary for ESA; everyone who follows the producer knows that what he makes is golden. His domination of rhythmic noise, industrial-techno, and other such beat-driven genres over the years has been non-stop. Yes, the new visuals are a phenomenal and superb addition to ESA's artistic talent, but it's the music that makes ESA what it is. Eight-and-a-half out of ten! I 
May 17 2021