Delsin Mantis 1920

A decade into his career and a finely tuned minimal techno maestro, Joe Baker’s Forest Drive West project is back with another meticulous masterpiece after first emerging ten years ago on Livity Sound, Rupture and Hidden Hawaii. He was last on Mantis via the inaugural Delsin series release back in 2020 and has spent that time in between refining a practice built on mood and hovering comfortably between drum & bass and techno without belonging fully to either. These eight tracks span an unusually broad range: ambient, dubbed-out drum mantras, crisp techy drum funk and dancehall-styled swagger. His signature exquisite, mysterious sound design holds it all together, and Patrick Russell guests on the snarling d&b workout ‘Uromastyx’ while DB1 closes things out on the mesmerising breakbeat trip ‘Planes’. Mega.