Silence Itself Is Noise

Few artists grasp the power of space and silence quite like Swiss producer NVST. Her uncompromising nature both on the dancefloor and in the studio have made her one of the most electrifying artists of the moment, fast becoming one of Europe’s most in-demand DJs and gracing floors from Amsterdam Dance Event and Dekmantel to Berghain and Tresor, all while remaining resolutely herself and a champion for underground music, using her platform for consciousness-raising and change as part of the Female:Pressure family and through her own Big Science label. Silence Itself Is Noise, NVST’s debut for SSPB, provides a concise and thrilling distillation of her eclectic sound world and strafing club sets, perfectly reflecting the power of the title with expansive atmospheres haunted by skittering echoes of the dancefloor.

Throughout, NVST acts as a spiritual guide through collaged imagery and sonics that shift on a knife-edge without ever shattering the trance. Each track feels like fleeting memories of the club filtered through the human experience – flickering moments illuminated by strobes and shrouded in smoke, laced with the tang of sweat and psychedelics. Opener “Tiny Mistakes Feeling HOT (Hellisnotamyth version)” coalesces from curling vapors into infernal acid lines and rhythmic fragments that evaporate almost as soon as they appear. “The Devil Loves The Detail (Lucifer’s Fire Version)” builds into an inescapable pulse amidst frayed synthesizers, pressure building to fever pitch before “The Danger Zone Of GFY (Freedom Version)” opens out into icy, astral synths. “Monster of Business (Style Edition)” shifts closer to the dancefloor with a slinking, syncopated groove, conversations from the smoking area or studio creeping in at the edges, before erupting into the frazzled bounce of “The Goat and the Night.” “The Silence Itself is Noise (Nonstop Bass Version)” loops back once again to more cavernous atmospheres, warped bells and strafing melodic flourishes ringing out amidst fizzing distortion and skeletal percussion.

Silence Itself is Noise doesn’t clamour for attention, it necessitates it. Once again, NVST proves herself unafraid to challenge club orthodoxy, and unwilling to patronize listeners, instead making deft use of tension and release to create genuine moments of surprise and transcendence.