Sir. Fox Bizarrium
Altos Instintos
SCORE: 7.4 out of 10
Stylistically, Altos Instintos is all over the place, but it is safely bound within the walls of electronic music. The album may feel convoluted, unsure of what it wants to be, and the sonic textures may not be that exciting, but Sir Fox Bizarrium compensates with dynamic and complex composition.
If there is a genre that is always in a constant process of deconstruction, it would be electronic music. Its bond with experimentation is almost symbiotic, and even projects dedicated to the more friendly branches of this genre have to exert a certain level of sound exploration through cutting edge tools or methods. Unfortunately, despite the vast possibilities that electronic music presents in terms of new sounds and textures, periods of stagnation before something new comes along are inevitable; yes, even the avant-garde is not spared from redundancy from time to time.
Sir Fox Bizarrium is a Tijuana-based producer who, for lack of a better description, serves as an example of the aforementioned stagnation, but this does not mean that his work should be overlooked. On the contrary: what the producer presents in Altos Instintos — his debut LP — is worth considering as an excellent starting point and the first step to a more concise sound. The pieces are complex and operate organically despite their abstract nature.
Stylistically, the album is all over the place, but it is safely bound within the walls of electronic music and its various off-shoots; and, for what it’s worth, SFB does present himself as a very versatile producer with a deep understanding of the genres he glosses over throughout the album’s duration. There are hints of deep techno, kozmiche new agey ambiance, family-friendly industrial, and everything in between. There are points in which we have so much thrown at us, making the album feel convoluted and unsure of what it wants to be.
Nonetheless, SFB manages to keep the flow rather cohesive despite each song sounding like it belongs into a different album altogether; this is because each track is so isolated from the rest, that they all feel like series of individual climaxes, so you’re guaranteed a good time, although the whole experience starts dragging nearly at the end. When you find yourself looking at the tracklist to see how many songs are left, though, it’s relieving to see that you’re almost done, which means that Altos Instintos is, for the most part, devoid of filler — even if it’s not all killer.
While the production is more than decent, the album suffers because of its tepid sound work: The textures created by SFB aren’t just that exciting, as they feel like settings we’ve heard many times before. The chiming bell-like synths on “Etéreo” -plus all the bleeps and bloops that surround its pulsating rhythm- are stale sounds that we will find in every modern electronic or experimental album; “Primitivo” sounds like a Der Amethyst track -albeit with more twists and turns-, and “Alto Octanaje” is an intense and sonically rich techno piece that, despite all its power, it’s just a techno piece (although it is an album highlight in its own right).
However, Bizarrium’s keen sense of structure and arrangement keeps the tracks entertaining and truly engaging. Every track has an ever-changing and highly dynamic flow, and it is sure to keep the listener guessing what’s coming around the corner. Also, let’s keep in mind that this is SFB first full-blown LP, and it does show considerable growth since 2017’s Soul Signature. His composing abilities have honed significantly since then, making for an abstract -yet accessible- experience, even if some of the restrain from his previous works is missed; now he just needs to develop a sound to truly call his own, and we may have a future key player in the development of electronic music on a national level.
