Long-running – were talking close to a decade here – Melbourne-based party,  Wax`o Paradiso, has spun off into a new record label. The imprint debuts with an E.P. by OK EG. Intertidal Zone finds the duo of Lauren Squire and Matthew Wilson enlisting the assistance of Phil Stroud -on percussion – Jack Doepel of Krakatau`s keys, and Mildlife`s Adam Halliwel on flute. If you don’t know Phil`s amazing 15 minute track, Flow, please do check. This quintet – a super group of sorts – stretch out into chilled, ambient waters, sleepy, sedate, soundscapes. Tropical, Equatorial, heavy with a humid, Jon Hassell-esque, air. A harmonious heat haze where synths rise and swell in gentle waves, surfing the Id, searching for the love, and peace, within. Hyper-relaxed and horizontal. Its hand-held shakers tickled by machined timpani, and a sunset  / sunrise bass drum bounce. The four originals on offer presenting a kind of pared-back `90s IDM update. A distillation defined by dub`s sense of space. Their spiraling sequences spinning a moon-walking, reduced gravity, altered reality. The titular piece is old school, slo-mo, “ambient house for the E generation”. Jazzed by juice harp-like jive, its gentle glissando gifting the listener with a considerable contact high. Golden Hour could be The Orb tackling Sun Electric`s seminal O Locco – `cept without the samples, and with added “organics” – while Cousin`s Overcast Mix features serene syncopation, flashes of a dynamic but fractured drum & bass break. 

OK EG`s Intertidal Zone is available directly from Wax`o Paradiso Recordings.
Charlotte Alldis` beautiful accompanying artwork represents the regrowth of the Australian bush following the catastrophic fires that began in 2019.