Bristol-bred producer Adam Elemental‘s first love has always been drum & bass—he began making tracks in his teens, releasing his first white-label single in 1997, right as the genre was in the final stretches of its original heyday. Since then, Elemental has expanded his craft to synthesize both dubstep and D&B for his own enjoyment, an effort that first resulted in 2009’s speaker-punishing Messages from the Void. “Lonely Planet,” taken from his forthcoming EP Exile, shows the producer again fully embracing the sounds he was brought up on. The tune is deliberately minimal, keeping the arrangement tight and concise. Skittering hi-hats and woodblock kicks anchor a half-stepping beat, and really, there’s very little beyond that except for a handful of backwards chords and scattered samples that wander aimlessly in the background. Still, the effect pays off in dividends, and despite its melancholy title, “Lonely Planet” comes off as a track which is in fact effortlessly cool. The Exile EP is due on April 8 via the Runtime imprint.

Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet