Must is Spanish Producer Pablo Bolivar's third album and is a showcase of his dubby warm house sounds. There are hints of varying styles across the album's 55-minutes but there is also a consistent atmosphere of lush laid back Spanish vibes and very few vocals.
The album opens with the slow moving 'Rise You Demons', a track full of stumbling, echoing drum beats and gentle electronic melodies that captures the feel of a Mediterranean sunset. 'Eleven Years' is the logical next step, a slight shift in gear as the lights come on - a more measured rhythm carrying a similarly contemplative tune.
Must - Pablo Bolivar
With the help of Fabel, Bolivar delivers a sun kissed jazzy piece in 'Off Soft', complete with gorgeously soft percussive remedies and a gently played melodic hook. The jazz influence is retained for the vibe and composition of the slightly moody 'Diamonds', the track here that Pablo sounds most at home on - it's carefully crafted, tight and atmospheric.
Mantra provides the only vocal on 'New Order' - a track similar in feel to 'Diamonds' but the vocal adds little and if anything the track is symptomatic of Must's primary flaw - for all the attempt to vary styles and a measured length it still feels at times like it runs out of places to go. 'Keep Moving' manages to do little more than it's title suggests, a looped groove that pushes some unconstrained rhythms but little else.
But most moments here shine in their own, subtly refined way. Either side of 'Keep Moving' are 'Don't Hold' and 'Heat' - the former using progressive synths and a stomping beat to build an uplifting, funky piece of electronic music. Album closer 'Heat' is a slow ambient track assembled around the sounds of nature, insect noise and bird calls providing the foreground to a subtly emotional conclusion, and again, it's Bolivar at his best.