Review of Masked Muso Unpropped’s Acausality EP

Earlier this year, Spanish producer Unpropped released a couple of singles, ‘Nousle’ and ‘Virola’, both of which comprise part of his newly released EP, Acausality, which I am reviewing here today.

The first thing that stands out to me is the artwork. The EP cover is a reflection of the industrial feeling of the music contained within the 5- track project. Listening to it, I can smell the burned residue from a power tool and see the sparks of metal on metal. Further, something ominous lurks beneath the surface, waiting like a Jurassic fossil melded to rock, ready to be mined by drills and hammers.

Stream / Download: Unpropped – Acausality

Using the tools available to him, Unpropped reworked the raw materials from a previous project to construct the new one. He said, “This EP follows an unpublished 9-track album I had been putting together during 2021 and 2022. Nevertheless, I decided not to go on with the concept of that album and instead started to focus on the elements that made those specific tracks so captivating to me.”

The EP retains the essential kernel of the unreleased album, expanding on its essence while focusing down on what made it special. Or so much we can deduce from what the producer meant when he questioned, “How could I amplify those particular atmospheres which resonate much more with my own way of perceiving emotions, dreams, nature, society, and the world in general? Acausality is the earliest crystallization of that exploration process.”

The track’s lead song, ‘Inner’, welcomes us to Unpropped’s machine world. And in this world, we experience constant flux: noise crackles rhythmically, taking on depth in the low-end frequency range. A kick layered with sharp transient urges us deeper into the chasms of Unpropped’s creation.

We realise we are marooned in darkness when ‘Droplet Cascade’ begins. The echoes reverberate far off somewhere underground where the lurking thing lays, it’s home being the very chasms in which we find ourselves for the duration of the EP. Not to worry though, we’ll come out the other side just fine — perhaps slightly changed by the wonderfully tactile experience that is Acausality.