Live Review: Null brings the 90's rave into the now on 'Innocence Module'

For three years now Melbourne producer NULL has been quietly working away, alongside a few independent releases and edits, to bring his rave opus Med to life. The first single from the long awaited LP has just been released alongside a 360° "visual meditation", and is well worth the wait. The producer has distilled his influences into a joyous exploration of warehouse ready euphoria, so ready your tiny sunglasses, UV paint and mesh tops; we're going raving.

Every element of 'Innocence Module' is a specifically created and placed to make the truest homage to rave music of the 90's. From the choppy vocal samples to the clarity of a piano melody to the slide guitar sounding synths, everything comes together like a reverent pastiche of trance, breakbeat and garage. The seven-minute track spans three separate sections, each exploring nuanced elements of the track's inspiration.

Trance is the key influence on this track, establishing it from the start as operatic samples interact with grizzly bass lines and bouncing euphoric chords. Dense layers of melody fly across a four to the floor beat, disguised by the movement of the airy hats and sputtering pads. Getting into the middle of the track the percussion shifts into a broken beat, still incorporating those vocal samples and affected chords. After revisiting even more trance euphoria the track shifts yet again, this time into a classic acid sound, slowly building the intensity for a nostalgia inducing drop.

The music video, designed by Minnesota based visual artist Cubex Godhands brings this future facing trance into the visual realm. Classic rave visuals are converted into glossy CGI experiments as a brain is covered in metallic scribbles and a heart is reinterpreted as a constantly moving beat keeper. The sharp reds and blues warp and meld together as abstract shapes shift, honing in on the key image across the visuals, the elongated alien human head.

'Innocence Module' is like Null's love letter to the rave genres of the 90's, exploring his own influences with modern sensibility and advanced composition. Null's upcoming album Med is set to be an exploration of all of this and more, delving into ambient, club and noise compositions and bringing a future facing approach in his own interpretation. The 11 track LP is also being released as a limited edition white vinyl when it drops in mid October. You can preorder the whole album and vinyl here.

WORDS BY HOLLY O’NEILL

PHOTO Supplied

LISTEN TO MORE NEW MUSIC HERE

SEE ALSO

PANTEROS666 CREATES INTOXICATING CLUB GOLD WITH ‘DAP’

NULL CRAFTS AN APOCALYPTIC TECHNO SAGA WITH HIS REMIX OF DARCY BAYLIS

EXPERIENCE EUPHORIC TERROR IN DONATACHI’S FLIP OF TASHKA’S ‘YOKUBO’