I love to surf the web for DJ mixes and remixes of popular current songs, but it’s ever so rare that one artist’s remix tends to take me into their world. Some eventually became part of my ever-rolling album cycles, like Elkka, Nia Archives, Yotto, Dom Dolla, and more; however, one to have stuck with me closely is Australian DJ Logic1000, who, after a few EPs and a MIXMAG mix, has finally released her debut album Mother. It’s grounded and based in House music, but it explores the fundamentals of subsequent genres to have branched from or into the genre, never feeling hooked to one style from the moment the album starts to the moment it ends. As Sarah Kearns of HypeBeast would note in an interview with Logic1000, “Dipping in and out of genres as nimbly as she weaves in motifs from her personal life, Logic1000’s Mother debut explores the duality of identities – mother, partner, producer, and individual.” It isn’t a perfect debut, as some percussion can subtly feel homogenized, leaving the flow to waver a bit; however, it accomplishes delivering a significant stamp as Logic1000 creates something bigger than the EPs.
Mother is a relaxing surprise that makes your mind work, as it isn’t your daily intake of some SG Lewis dance hits, instead finding a tempered medium where the instruments create more of a presence and tell a story over being just vibes. It makes subtle moments like “Saint Rex” feel fresh through its minimalistic approach to the connecting sounds and chanting vocals that are empowering. It’s one track that follows a thinly paved path for the percussion, allowing the synths to work through it and create sensible overlays that bolster the effects it, unlike “Can’t Let Go,” which comes with pauses and tempo flips, weaving fast and slow percussion to emphasis moments in the lyrics. “All U Like” and its 80s garage aesthetic or the progressive R&B textures of “Promises,” where it brings this incredible performance by Toronto Singer-Songwriter Rochelle Jordan, are other examples that shine. It balances two distinct styles within electronic/house music, and it does so with ease. It can be a slight detriment as the blend can misalign, and you can get tranced without immersing yourself in the differentiating layers and vocals, like groovy melodies.
Logic1000 is in a new era, and because of this, you hear the musical growth from past EPs, which blend different derivatives of House/Dance music. As with those tapes, we get an audible shot of the fluidity Logic1000 carried herself through varying degrees, like how In the Sweetness of You was more poppy compared to You’ve Got the Whole Night to Go, and its more esoteric focus on classically focused dance tracks that deliver the rhythm and vibes. In Mother, Logic1000 doesn’t contort the music to produce a focused vibe, instead using the instrumental layers from the percussion, synths, or whichever anecdote they take influence from in the Club and R&B realm; you hear it with the way each track changes with the motions, like “Side By Side” and it’s more relaxed dance rhythms that don’t aim in over accentuating the synths or “Heartbeat” with its more percussion laced center that pushes itself with glitch elements. “Every Lil” brings some tropicality from the more beachy nature of Tropical House, and the variations continue while staying aligned with its goal, and that’s speaking about identity, as each song has its own, keeping a subtle motif for a near seamless listen.
Much of Mother is influenced by Club and R&B music of the late 90s/early 00s; it isn’t concrete as it remains distinctive to evolve past the notches and switches of prototypical notes we’ve heard before. Mother isn’t that; any moment that can feel outlier-like (comparatively) turns more natural in-song, whether it is something influenced by a Sade record or the EDM/Club era of the early 00s. Logic1000 makes this a means to grow and develop something larger than before, as she has in her personal growth. For Logic1000, that was motherhood and becoming more aware of a personal reward as she performs and uses her platform to speak on the stigmas of schizophrenia (Logic1000 is a diagnosed schizophrenic). As noted in the HypeBeast interview, “I felt like I’d said everything I needed to say in EP form, and once I had given birth I had this overwhelming sense that I needed to create something bigger…I had this surge of energy where I thought, ‘If I can create life, surely there are other great things I can do.’” It comes as no surprise, considering how Logic1000 updates the influence to make her own, like “Grown On Me,” which feels like a loosie that could have been on a N’Trance album.
However, what truly makes me love Mother is that it goes beyond. Though it isn’t a conceptual album, despite a slight conceptual focus creating it—you notice it as Logic1000 maneuvers through these tracks and emphasizes the emotions cored in the themes, like the instrumental “Heartbeat,” which feels like a synchronized feeling between the hearts of hers and her daughter. It’s a debut that shows Logic1000 allowing herself to work around different complexions and evolve the music more than expected, mainly as Logic1000 isn’t constraining herself to a directional niche like her EPs. It isn’t perfect, however, having a few minor issues like a swift pace and slight, homogenized percussion that doesn’t let you know a song has changed until after the 30-45 second mark. Give the most chances you can because the music is just that enthralling. I may have some minor bias, but at the same time, Logic1000 has shown much that this continuing exploration adds more than its surface layers.
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