Nick Léon's magnetic body music collides with the world-building experimentation of DJ Python (Brian Piñeyro) on Split for a release so thrilling, you're allowed to forget that it lacks cohesion. It is an understated victory lap for the two artists, each riding their own wave of momentum in celebration of the dembow rhythm.

As I write this review, the Superbowl nears its halfway point and I am reminded of something: no matter how dazzling the commercials today may be, they will struggle to advertise their product as well as Split does the versatility of reggaeton. You want something hard-edged, metallic, and thumping? 'Nerves'. You want a playful floor-filler that isn't Xtasis? Set your tempo slider to 130 and indulge in 'Love Potion'. Nervous in front of the Miscellania crowd and wanting to show off your esoteric side? I suggest 'i'm tired', but more on that a bit later. Léon and Piñeyro are disciples of pan-Latin electronic music, two separate architects of its current ascent into the zeitgeist, and this EP perfectly reaches out a hand to tempt the remaining skeptical selectors.

Léon's A-side brings together, as mentioned, two killer dancefloor cuts. 'Nerves' sits at a classic reggaeton tempo, while 'Love Potion' is supercharged and throttling, a gem for DJs of techno and bass music alike. They are immediate and need no justification. The Piñeyro-helmed B-side has more to unravel. 'i'm tired' is a fascinating, kinetic fusion of genres in dance music. At once, the song is dembow, halftime drum and bass (see Donato Dozzy's 'Mai') and, somehow, trunk-rattling late-00s trap. Its rhythm feels like triplespeak, injected with rubbery hyperpop bass and piercing synths for good measure. It's followed up by 'uwu', the most difficult, reclusive track on the release, which is propelled forward by the sound of hurried footsteps in gravel and punctuated by digitised droplets right out of the Nous'klaer playbook. Cold and hazardous, it is an inventive show of sound design for Piñeyro and stands in stark contrast to his trademark warm, bright downtempo.

It's true, the EP pivots pretty wildly in sound between the two halves and this may limit its potential impact. Léon and Piñeyro are such rising stars that I imagine this project could have been a landmark release, perhaps if it charted a slightly more accessible course on a bigger label. As it is, these songs contain enough weirdness and variability that they may bypass the RA-supported, summer festival ubiquity that Leon enjoyed in 2022. That would be a little disappointing given how genuinely fun this record is, but at the very least Split is a certification of the raw talent these two have to offer. You suspect that a world-conquering release is within them if only they choose to chase it.

85

Sam Gollings

12 February 2023