Clocks – Gated 29

Spanish producer Lefrenk, now based in A CoruNa, makes a strong first impression on Gated with five cuts that shimmer with electro-funk futurism. ‘Brainstorm’ opens like a dystopian epic, full of spiralling pads and pounding low-end pressure while ‘Clocks’ leans into looped synth funk, strutting along with a playful and modular bounce. ‘Funk Awake’ is pure movement – agile, rubbery and neon-lit like Miami Vice for hardware heads. The mood turns horizontal on ‘Ocaso’, an off-kilter, sunset-drenched cruiser that still packs enough percussive charge to keep its balance. Closer ‘Relative Point’ is the most introspective of the lot that lays featherweight leads over a chugging rhythm section. It’s an eclectic, coherent debut – forward-facing but rooted in groove.