Benabou - Rise & Merge
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Benabou - Rise & Merge
Holdrons Arcade
135A Rye Lane
Unit 11 Holdrons Arcade
London SE15 4ST
United Kingdom
Label: Blank Mind – BLNK029
Format: Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: Germany
Released: Jul 17, 2026
Genre: Electronic
Style: Ambient, IDM, Dub Techno
French-born, Berlin-based DJ, producer and mastering engineer Benabou returns with Rise & Merge — her second solo EP and first standalone project since 2018's Hottan, emerging from a period of creative recalibration that has pushed her beyond the familiar contours of techno into something more open and luminous. Mastered and cut by Mike Grinser at Manmade Mastering — where Benabou herself works as a cutting engineer — the run time is deliberately contained to fifteen minutes per side to preserve the EP's warmth and fidelity. Art by Lukas Matuschek, design by Sam Purcell.
Projet G opens with inky cosmic textures and prowling sub-bass built around layered Korg Mono/Poly and rich analogue components, Kliche's remix following with a spacious dub techno interpretation that teases out the original's deeper currents. Interlude — conceived during a flight back to Berlin, its unfinished quality entirely intentional — offers a fleeting bridge between worlds before the B-side flows toward club territory. Rise and Shift favour broken beats and fluid arrangements with an organic, elemental quality, while Merge provides the EP's emotional resolution — wispy melodies and porous textures unfolding through experimental ambient resonance as separate elements find their way back to a common origin. "To step slightly outside the techno world I know," Benabou explains, "and reach for something more open and luminous."
