Made In Heights recently released a new 11-track EP, Aporia: In These Streets, on Bandcamp. For those new to the duo, Heights is composed of Blue Scholars’ DJ/producer Sabzi and New York-based vocalist Kelsey Bulkin. They arrived on the internet scene last December with Winter Pigeons, an excellent collection of atmospheric electro-pop that vibed perfectly with a particularly brutal Northeast Winter.
Aporia is more of the same but with a lighter disposition to match its accompanying season. Sabzi’s deep reverb and metronomic precision are reminiscent of Roni Size’s seminal drum and bass crew Reprazent, but the beautiful synth textures and airy vocals courtesy of the poetic Bulkin places Heights firmly in electro-pop territory.
“Aporia” is a noun, defined as: “An irresolvable internal contradiction in a text, argument, or theory.” The contradiction here is the at-odds element of Sabzi’s booming electronic expanse and Bulkin’s slight, pretty vocals that often threaten to drift off the track and into their own realm. Variance is made complementary, however, and true aporia is thwarted in the musical space where the elements meet. See for yourself below.