Swedish artist Kajsa Villius lands on Enno’s Manual Smiles imprint with the five-track ‘Baltic Blue’ EP, following recent instalments on the label by Nickon Faith, FROND, and Command Control. Throughout the release, Villius showcases her expert feel for groove through layers of alien sonics, each element serving a purpose while they zap, beep, and whirr. Title track ‘Baltic Blue’ hits the ground running as a progressive techno-meets-trance cut, an unfiltered bassline coursing through hard-hitting kicks as its melodies bounce along liquid 303s, faint sounds of a mysterious creature echoing inside the soundscape.
Kajsa Villius continues with ‘Hear Me Nix’, a pumping kick-bass combo hooking us from the start as skittering percussion and aquatic synths work together before dropping into high-energy dance floor fury. Emerging from the waters, Kajsa’s ‘Baltic Blue’ EP enters the sweltering sounds of ‘Heat Wave’, in which she opts for bursts of raw low-end, dubstep rhythms and foreboding synth hits for a left-field curveball that’s sure to spin some heads before ‘Serpent’s Deep’ submerges again via a whirlpool of droning sequences and snaking acid lines for six minutes of mind-melting psychedelia. ‘Sweet Inferno’ then is the ultimate trance closer in which gated vocals alternate organic percussion as its scorching bassline hypnotises, dropping the curtain on this stylish and eclectic collection of intergalactic sounds.
Based between Stockholm and Berlin, Kajsa Villius has put out releases on Hörz Audio and Manual Smiles veteran Kitsta’s Megababes imprint. She now offers her forward-thinking, club-ready sounds to Manual Smiles with her own entry on the label via the ‘Baltic Blue’ EP, already supported by the likes of D. Tiffany, Elena Colombi, Daniel Avery, HAAi and Spray.