FJAAK 015

FJAAK returns to their own imprint with a new four track EP ‘FJAAK015’, showcasing the raw, analogue driven techno that has become synonymous with the Berlin duo. Based in Berlin, Felix Wagner and Aaron Röbig have been making music together since childhood, developing FJAAK into one of the most recognisable names in the electronic music industry. Over the years, the duo have built a reputation for their rebellious approach to club culture, electrifying live performances and hardware-driven productions, drawing from techno, power house, dub, breakbeat and beyond. Opening the EP, ‘Serotonin’ is unmistakably FJAAK. Stripped back and fiercely groove focused, punchy drums and crisp hat sequencing lock around roaring low end, offbeat tension and precisely placed tonal percussion. Analogue textures give the production its raw physical character, while an arrangement built around subtle shifts in rhythm and pressure keeps the energy continuously moving. Designed with dark rooms and heavyweight systems firmly in mind, it captures the direct warehouse functionality at the heart of FJAAK’s sound while retaining the personality and hardware driven grit that has long separated their productions from the pack. ‘Threshold’ pushes into more hypnotic territory. Skipping rhythms meet filtered synth stabs and expansive reverberated spaces as the track steadily evolves through layers of movement and progressive tension. Fast and immersive without becoming overcrowded, it demonstrates the duo’s ability to create a considerable sense of scale from a tightly controlled selection of elements. On the B-side, ‘Bio Data’ moves deeper into industrial territory, pairing coarse machine textures with intensifying rhythmic structures before unexpectedly opening into a vast, euphoric passage of atmospheric release. That contrast between airy, almost weightless space and gritty mechanical drive makes it one of the EP’s most distinctive moments, before the production gradually pulls the listener back towards its harder rhythmic foundations. Closing track ‘Wax Pack’ brings the focus firmly back to the groove. Sharing some of the stripped back attitude of ‘Serotonin’, its sequenced analogue movement, driving percussion and rolling low end form an extended dancefloor workout designed to lock into rather than constantly interrupt its momentum. There are no unnecessary diversions, just carefully controlled changes in pressure and texture that allow the groove to do the work.