Sandwell District

Pulverising reams of fat bass beats ricochet across this futuristic landscape, stopping only to grab you by the jugular and haul you to the dancefloor.

As epitaphs go, this is one that Silent Servant would surely be proud of. RIP. The pioneering collective regroup, following Silent Servant's sad passing, delivering a new assemblage of techno atmospherics & body-warping beats. ‘End Beginnings’ is a majestic coming together of cinematic techno and mind-bending dancefloor dynamism; an album that marries Drexciya’s idea of techno being an act of seditionary innovation to a sense of unbridled fun, an imperative that means an awful lot to O’Connor. “Having a good time is pretty much why you get into it in the first place,” he notes wisely. “And it is fun. I think we feel a lot more fortunate now, especially with what happened with Juan. We’re grateful.”‘End Beginnings’ then is also a moving requiem to a fallen soldier – Juan Mendez.

At the beginning of 2024, Mendez tragically died just as things were moving in the right direction for the collective. Mendez’s stunning artwork and visuals were always a central pillar of Sandwell District; indeed, he was working on a piece of art entitled ‘End Beginnings’ that was mooted to be the album cover. That work was never finished, but O’Connor and Sumner took the title to honour their friend’s contribution. It remains a fitting tribute to the stop-start nature of this rebel alliance.