Konx-Om-Pax – Refresher

Coming off last year’s Scottish Album of the Year-nominated album Caramel, Glasgow producer and animator Konx-Om-Pax is content to simply ride the wave with his new EP Refresher. At only four tracks long – two of them Caramel remixes – it’s a meticulously crafted addendum to his last release, but an addendum nonetheless.

That’s not to say there’s nothing here worth spending time with. The two new tracks are appropriately energising, with the throbbing Species With Amnesia a scuzzy standout. A rolling bassline simulates blinding strobe lights, while warm melodies pulsate in and out like pure ecstasy, climaxing in a break in the back half of the track before the bass crashes back in like a sledgehammer.

Both the remixes, meanwhile, are broadened in scope compared to their original versions and, given room to breathe, evolve into something less tangible. Ambient closer Beatrice's Visit (Huerco S Extended Stay – The Morning Version) doesn’t direct you to any particular emotion or state of mind, but rather lets you ride its shimmering synths to whatever destination your mind takes you. It’s a comedown, but a smooth and otherworldly one. If Caramel was an exercise in colour, vibrancy and excess, and a loving memory of a bygone rave scene, Refresher is an all-too-brief tribute to the after-party.

 Listen to: Species With Amnesia, Beatrice's Visit (Huerco S Extended Stay – The Morning Version)