Otik occupies a unique space in the UK techno sphere. In a scene that so often flourishes in the depths, where dubstep pressure and the rhythmic influences of dancehall, grime and jungle into a heady club brew, the Bristol-born, London-based producer and DJ reaches for the light at the surface. His sound retains the bass-weight and dancefloor heft of his peers on labels like Keysound, Livity Sound and Wisdom Teeth, but bears an emotional resonance and blissed-out atmosphere that feels entirely his own. With a deep love for ambient music and a keen sense of melody and sound design, he’s earned a reputation for productions and DJ sets that hit hard, but aim straight for the heart.
Otik’s recent EP, ‘Soulo’, on Martyn’s 3024 imprint presents some of the finest examples of this sound to date . Across four tracks, swift, broken rhythms and rumbling sub bass plumes underpin bright melodies and lush rave sonics. It’s the prolific producer’s heaviest club gear in some time, but somehow, simultaneously, his most tender.
That balance of tenderness with rib-rattling energy is demonstrated in Otik’s Selections, which stretches from ethereal ambience and precision-tooled breaks into bass-heavy dancehall and beyond. Dig in.
