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Live Review: Henrik The Artist wins new 'Friendships' with his new EP

6 April 2016 | 4:42 pm | Caitlin Medcalf

HENRIK THE ARTIST, my fav Norwegian dance prodigy, is embracing this graceful year with open arms and more than that, has given us his new EP.

2016. The future. Well honestly, anything past 2013 feels like the future so I guess you could say that the future is now. We've seen some pretty cool releases come out over the course of this futuristic year so far, but it's only heading up hill from here.

HENRIK THE ARTIST, my fav Norwegian dance prodigy, is embracing this graceful year with open arms and more than that, has given us an incredible slice of cake in the form of his new EP.

Put out through the great people at Activia BenzHenrik has worked hard to bring an original output to the table that fills all of the little quirks and crevices that are slowly becoming more apparent as the year progresses. It's been a year for dance, a year for high tempo tunes and moreso, a year for bigger and better production.

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Friendships is a six-track masterpiece that could very well be likened to quite a lot of sounds at the moment, but he's doing things differently.

Characterised by often high-pitched melody lines, pitch-modulated vocals and a smart ear for a kicker of a bass line, Henrik's showing us why he's rising to be one of the heavyweights in the dance game. Recently finishing up at this year's leg of SXSW, he's had the opportunity to further hone and channel this EP towards a live audience, something I hope we'll get to see in the months or years to come here in Aus.

'Prologue' sets the mood of the EP, drawing us in with an atmospheric sound with a strong absence of a particular beat, something that's so contrasted throughout the rest of the EP. It's short, but is a great lead up to the next tracks to come.

We're thrown head on into the MIDI wonders of 'My Friend', and it's pandemonium from there. He's incredibly clever at playing with texture; building where necessary and taking away where necessary. It sounds borderline tropical, but doesn't actually delve into that territory. It's dance more than anything. There was a game I used to play as a kid, I think it was Spyro or something, but there was one level in particular that was set on an island, and it had a chorus of pan-flutes playing the soundtrack, and this feels like such a cool rework of that particular grab.

'Lose You' heads on a fork, and delves further into trap territory, with a commandeering beat that steers you further into this sonic wonder. There's vocals in this one, and it feels oh so dancefloor ready.

DJ Karaoke lends a hand for 'The Moment', and whilst this one elementally is quite similar to the opening of the EP, there's a real air of atmosphere and sustainability throughout this one. It's Henrik 2.0 in this one.

Lead single 'Miss Me' is ready to close out the major section of this EP, proving why Henrik's one to keep an eye on. It's fundamentally so sound. A clear beat, bouncy melody and that gorgeous high-pitched synth.

As 'Epilogue' closes this one out, we're left with a massive air of mystery. The pan-flutes are back again, but this time there's some resolution to the mystery. It's complete, and Henrik has closed this one out in style.

Whilst there's so many sounds changing the dance game at the moment, it's cool to see that Henrik is continually taking it in his own stride and ensuring his output is clean, original and more so than anything, incredibly danceable.

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