Premiere: Gabriel Belabbas – Samantha [ATWT018]

French outfit Automatic Writing has grown to become one of the finest exponents of underground music that France has seen in recent years. From their joint performances by founders Darween, Jacan, & Guillermo Jamas, their unmissable events and of course their long-running record label of the same name. They now return to label action with the new four-track “Riders On The Storm” EP courtesy of Gabriel Belabbas.

Positive Futures co-founder Belabbas is on blistering form in his new EP, and we start our look at the release with B1 track “Samantha”. It is all about the huge bassline that leads out the track, but it is not long before more dancefloor-friendly elements are added to the mix. Telling the tale of a friendly girl called, you guessed it, Samantha, Belabbas uses arpgeatting synth lines and string stabs to make her point. 

Being French, the disco tinged electro sound seems to come as second nature to Belabbas and the closing track from side B – “Riders On The Storm” is a fantastic updating to the legendary track from The Doors. Electric guitars, the instantly recognisable shaker percussion, and the crash of thunder are the only thing that links the track to the influential source material, but the sentiment is loud and clear.

Flipping over to side A and record opener “Call It” packs a punchy groove that is laden with subtle layers and layers of fresh ideas from Belabbas. Crunchy grooves and a bubbling bassline get things started, and the pitched-down vocoded voice hints at deeper story unfolding. Completing the release is perhaps something more towards Belabbas’ normal style in “World Order”, and with stripped back beats and huge synth tones and synth stabs, this is perhaps the most peaktime track on the release. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as Gabriel Belabbas in a deeper mode is just as exciting as his other studio output.

You can grab your copy of ATWT018 at the Automatic Writing Bandcamp page.

As well as their music orientated output, Automatic Writing have also been putting out thought-provoking mini-docs in the form of their “Between The Lines” series. You can check the latest edition from Monile here.

More info on Gabriel Belabbas
Instagram | Facebook | RA | Soundcloud | Discogs

More info on Automatic Writing
Instagram | Facebook | RA | Soundcloud | Discogs