Some records don’t arrive with fanfare – they slide in through the back door, light a cigarette, and let the music speak in low, confident tones. With “Eighth Addition”, Sydney-based producer Mtty delivers a four-track statement that feels less like an introduction and more like a calibration – a tuning of the frequencies for those who know the weight of groove when it hits just right.
This is Addition by Subtraction’s eighth entry, and Mtty’s debut on the label, but there’s nothing tentative here. With prior appearances on imprints like Mindhelmet and Breakfree, his fingerprints are already pressed deep into the circuitry of the underground. „Eighth Addition” doesn’t shout – it slithers, calculated and crafted, moving across the spectrum from polished club tools to moody late-night drivers.
“The Jammed Elevator” opens the record like a malfunctioning lift between two parallel dancefloors – one drenched in melodic prog, the other jolting with percussive tech house punch. Deep synths twinkle like circuitry trying to remember its past life, while the bassline wobbles just enough to keep the floor guessing. Quirky FX flicker around the groove like static interference. It’s music built not for spectacle, but for function – tailored for rooms where eye contact is replaced with movement.
Tiago Walter’s remix of “The Jammed Elevator” on the A2 doesn’t repair the elevator – it reroutes it entirely. Known for his modern Garage touches, Walter injects pressure and polish, dragging the original through a darker, mistier corridor. It’s still breathable, still refined, but with a magnetic pull that feels heavier, more nocturnal. The emotional tension remains – but now it stares back.
Flip to the B-side and things get more introspective. “Am I A Robot?” leans into the timeless elegance of modern progressive house, with subtle tribal inflections underlining a deep, crystalline atmosphere. It’s not a question, really – it’s a soft existential murmur, drifting through space and synthetic memory. Think Liquid Earth meets a late-’90s sci-fi film score, but for dancers who read between the bars.
The closing track, “Night Cruising”, the B2, hits like headlights reflecting off an oil-slicked boulevard. It’s trippy, minimal, and deeply West Coast-coded – evoking the dusty warmth of early 2000s Siesta cuts or Jay Tripwire’s headier moments. Percussion loops like tire tracks, synths hum like neon signage in the desert. Leftfield, yes – but laser-focused.
“Eighth Addition” is not about maximalism. It’s about friction, texture, and suggestion. It’s about knowing that groove doesn’t need to shout to move people. Each track earns its place not with volume, but with detail – with decisions made in the shadows, for dancers who notice.
Mtty’s sound isn’t just evolving – it’s refining. “Eighth Addition” doesn’t promise the future. It predicts it, softly and with style. The floor is listening — and so are we.
Words by Pasha Pliskin
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