The Scottish dance producer Rustie pioneered an overwhelming digital-maximalist style that paved the way for entire generations of hyperpop, but he’s been mostly absent for the past decade. After the release of his 2015 surprise album EVENIFUDONTBELIEVE, Rustie canceled all of his tour dates, citing addiction and mental health problems. Two years ago, he returned to release a single called “Black Ice Mudra.” Now, he’s apparently just throwing new tracks up on YouTube now, without doing anything to publicize them.
Last month, Rustie posted a buzzing, decaying, energetic instrumental called “Athanasia” on his YouTube page. Today, he’s followed that with a new track called “Amentet.” Both of those tracks have jittery, cryptic videos, and both of them go heavy enough on strobe effects that they definitely aren’t playing with the opening warnings. These songs feel like tiny epics. They align with the music that Rustie made in the ’10s, but they also feel completely of-the-moment — probably because this guy was ahead of everyone else all along. Hear “Amentet” and “Athanasia” below.
