Ryan Hunn, also known as a producer, and DJ Illum Sphere, returns to Ninja Tune with his second full-length, “Glass.” This follows 2014’s “Ghosts of Then and Now” LP, but sonically moves further in the direction hinted by his “Spectre Vex” and “Second Sight” 12”s and well-received mixes for fabriclive, and Dekmantel. The reduction in output over this time a conscious decision to carefully signpost a change in direction. This same shift has also bled into his acclaimed DJ sets – that have previously won him fans in Thom Yorke and Ben UFO – leaving him poised now more than ever to delve into a new phase.
“I wanted to make an album very different to the first,” says the producer, “one with a different palette, pace, and energy.”
A change in “situation and style,” as he describes it, replaces the sharp turns and drastic shifts in altitude of his earlier efforts. “Glass” is a record steeped in mechanical depth and a beating cohesiveness, reminiscent of contemporaries Helena Hauff and Kassem Mosse, and positioning the industry’s best kept secret—Illum Sphere—to have a breakout year all of his own.
