Booka Shade - Reflector - Blaufield Music

A true institution in its own right, Booka Shade has been at the forefront of electronic dance music for decades. As of late, the German titans have been on a sublime streak that has seen Walter Merziger & Arno Kammermeier grace the halls of their own Blaufield Music with a coveted menagerie of dancefloor-oriented creations. Now, the pair returns to their stomping grounds with one of their finest releases of the year in “Reflector”, taken from their recent two-track (Neon Lights) They Glow / Reflector EP.

Full-bodied from the first sip, “Reflector” means business as Merziger & Kammermeier forgo the subtleties and unleash a muscular frame, complete with a stabbed bassline and throbbing toms working in tandem for maximum pleasure. With “Reflector” running hot, the legendary duo begins to uncover roaming synths and tripped-out vocal chops that swirl, adding a narcotic hint of effervescence to the piece. As the contraption comes to a halt, a drilling techno-laced arpeggio traverses “Reflector” right through its core, driving the piece into new lands where cascading synthetics come in and out of frame, releasing tension with every passing bar before supercharging the track for once last rapture.

While some 6570 days might have gone by since the release of Booka Shade’s seminal Movements album, the German duo remains at the top of their game to this day. “Reflector” is peak Booka Shade by every means, and only one pheromonic listen is all it takes to understand just why Walter Merziger & Arno Kammermeier are still held in such high regard.

Booka Shade’s “Reflector“ is out via Blaufield Music. Grab your copy here.

Rating: 9/10