X or Size - Covert ID (2021)

Sublime Ambient techno sound bath from X Or Size for the ever reliable Good Morning Tapes; long in the works, and it really shows, with deeply spirited suds and rumbles for fans of NWAQ/154, Actress, Andy Stott, Huerco S.++

Effectively the debut proper for NYC’s X Or Size, who also spends his time running the Aeon Bookstore in his home city, ‘Covert ID’ is the result of a durational process of regeneration and personal spiritual growth, naturally absorbing aspects of Eastern Mysticism and his visual practice into a spongiform, radiant style of ambient techno classicism. Beautifully unhurried and languorous, the 4 tracks (7 on the included download) each take all the time they need to unfold in waves of meditative bliss that really found their purpose during a period when the artist was bedridden with injury, and would come to fruition in the early phases of lockdown as a way to focus his energies.

The music is allowed to breathe, lathering incremental shifts of textural layers between rolling and swung dynamics, all helmed by throbs that lull us into its glacial pace. In light of recent social media faff about “ambient” music, it’s clear that the style holds heavy meaning - positive or negative - to many users, and we could happily hold this album up as an example of the sound at its optimistic and practically therapeutic best, connoting and convecting a convincing sense of childlike curiosity and amniotic lushness that’s hard to shake once felt. For the dancefloor or bedroom, this one’s a burner.