Ciel & Mathis Ruffing – Hot Squid

Ciel and Mathis Ruffing’s EP has been nearly four years in the making. Following a spontaneous studio session back in May 2022, the pair continued to collaborate, the results of which are ‘Hot Squid’ — five cuts of sleek but weighty Detroit-rooted tech house. The title track is a heady slice of coiling metallic percussion and pressurised synths, while Roza Terenzi’s remix hardens the bass and strips the body down to a lean tek skeleton. ‘Little Voice’ slips Ciel’s hazy vocals into a hypnotic loop and ‘Late Summer’ is a meandering exercise in kinetic melodies. An elastic listen skewed as much for peak times antics as sunrise closers.