Live Review: Ducky takes us to intimate places with her 'Don't Give Up Yet' EP

As far as electronic music goes, Ducky is definitely up there as one of my favourite producers. The girl's got killer taste and even bigger skills behind a computer screen.

Producing tracks that have been released on labels like Activia Benz, Club Aerobics and even with Nest HQ, she's gone absolutely from strength to strength these last few years. It's hard not to get all fangirly about a lady making kickass electronic music with such purpose too.

Each release is so different from the last, and with each new track she puts out, we're forced to change our entire perceptions of what kind of music we thought Ducky actually made. She's killing it across a heap of genres, but there's an elemental complexity to her sound that makes it instantly recognisable.

Don't Give Up Yet is her latest release, and it comes to us in the form of an EP. Secret Sounds were the legends to put this one out there for us.

Taking a step back and toning it down a notch, at first glance, the EP seems like an entire restructure of her sound. It's quieter and definitely more complex in its composition and overall sound, but like I said, that's only at first glance.

As we delve deeper into this intimate amalgamation of sounds and ideas, we're faced with some classic Ducky sequences and sounds here. She's all about creating something complex and out of the ordinary, and each layer on this EP is so full of texture and so entirely dependant on one another to function as a track. Take the opening track 'Bliss' as an example. It's pop, but a different kind of pop to what we're used to.

'Bliss' is ultimately a catalogue of sounds and moods that if separated, would create an entirely different scape. Together, they feed off each other to create an entirely self-sufficient piece of work.

The percussion she's utilised is crisp and filled with purpose and works to further accentuate the direction of this sound.

You get lost in the pace of this one more than anything. Although it's not as rave-y as her previous releases, all of the tracks still sit at a considerably high BPM and this is what catches you out more than anything.

'Don't Look Down' I guess you could say is the 'club track' of the album, but definitively, this isn't a rave album.

Ducky's a genius in her own right. Creating sounds that are simultaneously definitive of her previous sounds and also representative of new directions, she's honing in on her own niche that hasn't been at all explored yet.

Words by Caitlin Medcalf

LISTEN TO NEW MUSIC HERE

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