Song You Need: Isyti’s “Unit” is a masterclass in deep trance maximalism

The FADER’s “Songs You Need” are the tracks we can’t stop playing. Check back every day for new music and follow along on our Spotify playlist.

Back in July, an electronic producer named Isyti made waves with a series of pummeling tracks shared unceremoniously on SoundCloud and Bandcamp. It wasn’t long before the diligent internet archivists at Dismiss Yourself got wind of the songs and uploaded them to even greater fanfare on their own YouTube channel under the project title bootleg. The end of December saw the release of bootleg (+), a remaster of the July release that further unfurls the cosmic ambitions Isyti embarked upon in his original songs.

The A.I.-generated cover art of bootleg (+), an approximation of a first-person shooter game with the impressionistic texture of a dream, hints at the music’s ambitions: it’s an unapologetic tribute to yesteryear’s keygen techno, deep trance, and everything else that you’d imagine to hear at the blood rave from Blade. Among the songs that best capture these distinct but occasionally overlapping ideas is “Unit.” Everything feels ridiculously powered up, from the heart-attack BPM of the four-on-the-floor to the layers of synths that strobe with apocalyptic fervor. Taking a deep breath during the song’s runtime, at once perfectly succinct and all-too-brief, feels like cheating—songs like “Unit” are best enjoyed with sharp, furious intakes of hot, breathy air, surrounded by dozens of other people while barrelling to the edge of your inhibitions.