Native to Perth, Australia, Christian Benson, more commonly known as LUUDE, has slowly woven his influence into the underground trap and bass scene for nearly three years. A treasure trove of flips isolated to his ‘2.0‘ account act as the stable foundation which has supported the young Aussie’s quick rise to fame, while his more recent venture into solo releases has revealed fierce individuality and a desire to push the boundaries of his creative style.
A familiar tune to loyal LUUDE fans, his latest single ‘Omen‘ has been teased in guest mixes and setlists dating as far back as 2017. The complete track was finally unleashed this past week, with a free download, and is a brilliant depiction of Christian’s ability to experiment with a deeper, grimier cyberpunk style, yet maintain his innovative sound complexity.
A torrent of pounding, drowned out drums, pierced with a metallic ringing suddenly break into a dark wave of synths, laced carefully with ominous, resonating chanting. A build, reminiscent of a hydraulics system, breaks into a slowed-down, tuned-out sample from the chorus of Kanye West‘s ‘Black Skinhead‘, before launching into a grimy, funky tempo of cumbersome bass notes. A brief intermission, lined with echoing chants leads into the submerged Kanye chorus and an elated buildup, before dropping once again into an assault of dark bass.
‘Omen’ is an excellent change of pace, exhibiting a much more bass-heavy drop, while still demonstrating meticulous sound design in the buildup and a dash of familiarity courtesy of Ye. With the long-anticipated Dark Room Tour underway, I expect this to be the first of many hard-hitting releases from LUUDE in the coming year.
