new york native shawn o’sullivan returns to avian as 400ppm with debut lp, ‘fit for purpose’.
as an artist, o’sullivan has long since explored the juncture between hard-hitting, functional dance floor material and more lofty, conceptual work. from a purely structural standpoint, the artist’s return to avian bears all the hallmarks of previous output under the alias, utilising the same palette found on early ep’s for guy brewer’s label. stripped back and driven, the music marries caustic drum-machine polyrhythms with warping, pitch bent leads and characteristically atmospheric use of reverb. it’s a decidedly dance floor offering, but the music comes refracted through o’sullivan’s own lens, with plenty of elegant references to a career spent exploring much of the techno genre’s periphery, from noise to new wave. crushed vox bubble up from beneath wrought-iron percussion and the artist takes time to step away from high energy 4×4 workouts to explore more complex rhythmic structures and harsh, low tempo grooves.
