Chick Iverson Places a Quirky Tech Lean on Inkline’s “Listen”

No other imprint seems to be more in tune with the underground bass scene than the trusty folks over at BRØKEN Music Syndicate. Since launching in 2015, the Dallas-based label has spent its days championing the most forward-thinking beats of the bottom-end variety. The pulse is definitely under their finger. During the final stretch of 2017, they ventured across the pond to snag a single from one of the best bassline brokers in the business. UK’s Inkline came correct for the crew, lobbing up “Listen,” a moody masterpiece made straight from the mind of an artist who knows how to make a late-night crowd lose control. More than a year on, and it still holds up just as well as it did on day one—yet the tune is still getting a refresh that places the piece inside the perspective of two incredible forces.

Label regular Isenberg drags it into a minimal drum & bass space, adding his own raw, stripped-back flavor to the original formula. On the other hand, we have Chick Iverson, a Seattle-based talent who has been cranking out cuts with crazy amounts of character (which is why we wrangled him for a steamy EP on IN / ROTATION). His take lands left-of-center in the tech house realm, building around the foundation Inkline laid down.

“Working on this tune was a pleasure,” Chick Iverson tells Insomniac. “Inkline’s use of space/sound design are top tier, so it was a pretty logical process for me to add my own flavors but keep the original vibe intact. I think the moody pianos/vocals are a great setting for the typical Chick Iverson driving subs/drums!”

It’s the quirky characteristics where Iverson excels best, as he sends off-kilter whirs, gritty basslines, snappy percussive hits, hazy hums, and growling textures into orbit around fragments from the original. Chick Iverson finds a way to truly flip the script without completely changing the narrative that crushed it in the first place.

Available March 26 via BRØKEN.

Download Chick Iverson’s “Listen” remix here.