Electronic duo
High Tides pretty much map out their sound and aesthetic with their name, artwork, and titles like "Washed Ashore" and "Azure Drift." Yes, it's chillwave to the max, filled with slow, swaying beats and woozy textures, as well as the occasional presence of crashing waves and cawing seagulls. Delve deeper, however, and there's something vaguely unsettling about the duo's work. Not enough to really shock and disturb, as their music could easily fit into the background at a summer party, but there's a slightly sinister underpinning to tracks like "Tidal Movement" and "Midnight Cove."
High Tides make a perfect fit on
Tobacco's Rad Cult label, as they seem to love vocoders and smudgy, gritty textures as much as the
Black Moth Super Rainbow leader. The duo's beat programming is perhaps their hidden strength, as it can be highly intricate and detailed without going overboard. They seem to draw from the downtempo end of IDM (
Casino Versus Japan,
Freescha, and of course
Boards of Canada) more than most other acts of their sort. The stoned surfer dude rambling of tracks like "Summer Reflections" and "Catch the Wav" plays up the carefree California vibe they're going for, yet somehow you get the sensation that it all might be a cover-up for something, like they're trying to escape and drown out a particularly gruesome part of their past. This uneasiness, combined with the duo's production prowess, helps make their art stand out instead of becoming simply more faceless hipster background music. Excellent work from start to finish, as is their self-titled debut from 2015. ~ Paul Simpson