Bassnectar’s ‘Reflective’ EP is a Hard-Hitting Return to Basics

In anticipation of his new EP, Reflective, Bassnectar served up six hot tracks to whet our appetite for bass. With collaborators Dorfex Bos and G Jones in tow, we find ourselves presented with two very different tracks tied together only by a relentless subterranean river of Bassnectar.

Starting with Underground, G Jones and Bassnectar bring us a defiant, retro-interrupted melee of power. This is the perfect track to get you hyped up for finally telling off your boss and quitting your job, or showing up for your first fight club meeting… or you know, partying and stuff.  The repeating lyric, “Ima stay in the underground,” evokes images of rebellion, courage, and devotion. Note: The vocal lead up to the second drop is particularly empowering.

Horizons feels more like a call and answer between Bassnectar and Dorfex Bos, as a conversation attempting to achieve synthesis between the two artists’ styles. Symptomatically, this song seems to fluctuate greatly in tone and energy throughout. The song opens on an ethereal mountain top scene with a thousand throat singing monks chanting in reverb, creating a space that is simultaneously very large and very intimate.

You start tapping your foot in preparation for the drop, wondering what could possibly come of this, and all of a sudden you’re some place completely different. An almost foreboding feeling comes over you as the pendulum swings to the other side of this song with the first verse. The eerie, resolute synth leads the drums to the chorus where we are once more brought back, slowly to the monks and the mountain.

All in all, Bassnectar and Dorfex Bos create a very interesting narrative with Horizons which is worth a listen, but please make sure you use headphones that can do it justice. The rest of the EP provides more of the same, in a return to that classic, wobbly Bassnectar sound that’s come to define his style over the years. Listen in to all of Reflective below, and let us know what you think!