JOHN HOWARD - Debonker EP

Past Tense continues its excavation of forgotten American club music with another dispatch from John Howard's archive, pulling three previously unreleased cuts from the late 90s and early 2000s into circulation for the first time. 'Fromp' drifts through hazy synth atmospherics and hazy pads with the loose-limbed hypnosis of classic afterhours tech house, then 'Bcr' pushes further into machine-funk abstraction through vocoder fragments, twitchy electronics and beautifully glitched rhythmic pressure. On the flip, 'Clear Your Mind' lowers the pulse entirely, settling into a soothing downtempo glide with submerged melodies and soft-focus textures.