Nick Léon – A Tropical Entropy

2024’s hit single ‘Bikini’ galloped towards a sun-soaked horizon buoyed by Erika de Casier’s glossy vocals — that dembow tune finds renewed romance in the context of Nick Léon’s debut LP ‘A Tropical Entropy’. The Miami-based producer drowns Afro-Caribbean and Brazilian rhythms in ethereal FX, simmering sub bass and fractured synths as though he were viewing clubland through a snow globe. Take Ela Minus’ deadpan vocals on the reggaeton stomp of ‘Ghost Orchid’, which swims in a psychedelic soup of audio panning before eventually breaching the surface. He prefers swathes of tension over rushing climaxes here — exceptions to the rule include the raucous dancehall of ‘Hexxxus’ and the distorted emo screams on ‘Millennium Freak’. Otherwise, ‘A Tropical Entropy’ dwells in the subdued energy of an afters: a cerebral post club record with formidable depth.