Adam Beyer – Ignition Key

A few years down the line, and you may recall Adam Beyer's third album being one of the season's biggest surprises, with a collage of styles few could have expected of him to come up with, and a determined change of direction, which resulted in his abbandon of hard & heavy, bass driven techno, which brought him to the international spot light in the first place.
As an album, "Ignition key" has it all; the epic opening title track, a long and warm tribal/tech-house clash, with a groovy bass line and gentle melodies, Sthlm, the funky techno bouncy track with playful synths, Flamethrower, one of the most sincere and touching pieces of electronic music ever, with a heart tearing feel to it, Triangle, which takes a ninety second build up before the beat is thrown in, and is all about a surprisingly spooky and high pitched melody, Active, an upbeat stomper reminiscent of Discipline from his "Protechtion" album, Truncated Truth, a break beat track with a super old school sample going "once again", all layed over a mesmerizing set of violin strings, Second Sorrounding, which, speaking of old samples, starts off with with a vocal effect that could have easily been jacked off an anceint Joey Beltram track, plus the siren hook and the overly electroish feel only give those last extra oldie goldie touches.
You heard it right! Electro! Nanobots follws hot on the heels of the previous number and ventures straight into some electro land, naturally, coupled with hypnotic melodies. We then have The Convertion, an interlude where a robotised voice is layed over an eerie choir chant. Split Second is another tune with an erratic and broken beat, with many weird sound effects coming from all over. It also signals the first track where melody is not the main ingredient. With Bluetone we enter the album's end zone, and float away into downtempo territory, with barely audiable percussion and nice melodies collaborating in harmony throughout the track. Those Funny Moments has a deep bass line with a slow, steady yet throbbing kick, something in the vein of dub music, but Beyer's tune has an orchestral melody that'll you have you weeping all over your monitor three minutes into the track. Dissolve closes this spectacular album with a short and spacey journey, with only hints of percussion as subtle drum kicks appear every once in a while...
What to say? It may not be perfect, it may not please everybody equally, but everybody will have something to their liking here. Compared to his previous albums, it may lack the raw punch and drive they had, but "Ignition key" most certainly remains Adam Beyer's most three dimensional and lively album to date. Very emotional and laid back, with a knack for modulating melodies in a manner that only a very talented and musically gifted producer can. Trust me on this one.

Many of the 14 tracks on Ignition Key sit comfortably in the 128-bpm range -- perfect for dancing without breaking a sweat. Beyer develops a melodic motif throughout, using a ghostly synth-like wash sound that is creepy in its minor tone yet eloquently fits with these well-done rhythms. Only "Active" approaches the speed of Beyer's normal energetic fare, and the overused vocal sample make you wonder if this track hasn't in fact been sitting on the shelves for a while. Beyer also tries his hand at electro and breakbeat with equally dated results, and the downtempo selections that fill out the back end of the album are mostly uninteresting with the exception of "Bluetone," which surprisingly catches the shuffle of Dabrye, though without the hip-hop references. At a reasonable 65 minutes, Ignition Key is hardly the 80-minute patience test many techno albums become, yet it still feel equal parts excellent techno and disappointing filler.

This album is mostly laid back rather than stomping, though there are some upbeat tracks.

The subtle tunes are seldom allowed to dominate over the often complex percussion, but instead enhance each track as "Active" proves.

Standout tracks are the opener "Ignition Key" which is a perfect example of what the album is all about, "Those Funny Moments" with its beautiful haunting melody and "Truncated Truth" which starts with a brash 80's style synth but soon leads to a wonderful synth pattern that comes to the fore later.

The final track, "Dissolve" is a fantastic ambient piece to end off an album which benefits best from a full listen relaxed at home, rather than a quick skip through in a record shop.

Adam Beyer once again shows his skills by combining depth and understated melody to fantastic effect.