Nathan Fake recorded his fifth album strictly using hardware gear, capturing the majority of the tracks in a single take, and channeling the spontaneous energy of his live shows. While he's used a similar approach to his recordings before, the results have simply never been as flat-out exciting as Blizzards, his strongest album by far. Informed by the chaotic state of British politics as well the history of dance music culture, the album plays somewhat like the soundtrack to an end-of-days rave. There's a sense of danger and uncertainty to it, but instead of being overcome by fear, Fake just charges forward and goes with what he's feeling. Polyrhythmic breakbeats and propulsive kick drums are painted with warped bell tones and smudged textures, all covered in a thick, vibrating layer of distortion which shines rather than smothers. Fake approximates the ecstasy of the early-'90s rave scene without dredging up any of the samples, stabs, or breaks we've all heard countless times. "Stepping Stone" is beatific and celebratory, and sounds completely fresh and new, with a screwy, delay-heavy synth snaking its way through an ultra-cheerful melody and a driving, clap-heavy beat. The distortion constantly threatens to overturn and derail everything but the positive mood is simply insuppressible, and the added intensity just makes it all the more exciting. The low-key lurker "Ezekiel" and half-bubbling, half-dissolving "North Brink" are two of the album's most introverted moments, but then there are several head-spinners in a row, including the effervescent, shifting-breaks epic "Firmament," the moody garage shuffler "Torch Song," and the dazzling lo-fi beatbox disco of "Eris & Dysnomia." Then it all comes down with the steeply descending ambient piece "Vitesse." Fake's music has always been highly inventive and emotion-rich, but this is the most urgent and vital it's ever felt.