Luc Veermeer’s latest EP Elsewhere brings together his love for two artforms: film and music. The opening track FAKE is the clearest expression of that, not only as the EP’s lead single, but the only track to receive a thought-provoking music video, though all were worthy of a visual interpretation. If music videos have become a relic in pop music, what does that mean for electronic music, where visual storytelling is far less standard? Here, the answer seems to be for pure artistic expression. There is no other agenda, just something meant to be heard and felt.
Listen to and download Elsewhere [here](https://linktr.ee/lucveermeer).
The Elsewhere EP elegantly unfolds like a sequence of carefully composed scenes, each revealing another emotional perspective before dissolving into the next. It’s only after repeated listening that it makes sense as to why Luc chose to add picture to sound. Or was it the other way around?
Stylistically, you can hear traces of UKG, Jungle, Leftfield House and Ambient Electronica, but they never announce themselves as references, rather as an amalgamation of influences merged into the singular expression of Luc’s “sound”. Throughout the EP, Veermeer repeatedly balances weight against weightlessness, digital precision against human imperfection, and melancholy against brief moments of release. That push and pull is where the EP’s emotional charge comes from.
The opener of the EP, FAKE, sets the tone. Flanged, high-pitched vocals float over tightly programmed breaks while an oscillating, overdriven Reese bass carries the low end, anchoring the listener in. Rather than allowing these elements to compete, it is clear that Veermeer carefully considered the relationship of every element in the mix. As the arrangement unfolds, soft pads gradually condense into the stereo field before the low end drops out entirely, giving way to a breakdown of saturated ambient textures. The central vocal drops an octave, then reappears harmonised with itself. The vocals are used more like texture rather than lyric. They are stretched, pitched, chopped and granulated until it functions more like a synth voice than a voice at all. By the time the lead line finally emerges, it doesn’t land like a climax. Instead, it feels as though the listener has quietly arrived “Elsewhere”.
DON’T keeps the breakbeat energy, but shifts the sonics to something warmer and more organic. Snare-led breaks, a colourful synth palette reminiscent of the duo Dusky, and chord progressions carrying real emotional weight. The bassline adopts an entirely different personality this time. The hollowed-out frequencies in the bass create a deliberate pocket of space, allowing for the arpeggiated lead to flourish without ever competing for attention.
Chopped vocals and the lead synth trade phrases back and forth, keeping the arrangement in motion without repeating itself. Juno-style pads bloom in gradually, whilst the snare rolls build tension and anticipation, and when it finally releases, the payoff comes from development and accumulation of elements rather than the contrast of a big impactful drop.
PEACH, a collaboration with Floz, signifies the clearly obvious synergy the two artists have beyond playing B2B together. Floz brings forward his UKG influence, and it immediately comes through in the syncopated shakers, displaced accents and stretched vocal textures. This gives the groove a fluffy bounce that plays nicely against the track’s steadier chords.
The dotted lead melody mirrors that bounce, adding a playfulness the rest of the EP doesn’t have, making PEACH feel noticeably lighter. Rather than ending the EP with one final peak, the track gently exhales. It carries the feeling of the closing record in a beautifully constructed DJ set, designed to land people gently on a cloud.
What defines Elsewhere isn’t the genres it touches, but rather how beautifully the variety of influences have merged into Luc Veermeer’s sound.
Each track offers a different angle on the same feeling. Introspection, melancholy and the process of finding your way back, or at least “Elsewhere”. What’s refreshing in the overall EP is Luc’s restraint when exercising the influence of UKG and breakbeat. Rather than making the elements inconceivably and rhythmically complex, he simplifies them into something digestible for the listener, allowing syncopation, swing and space to create the impact.
Elsewhere isn’t built around explosive moments and dancefloor peaks. It’s an exploration of emotional displacement and the quiet process of finding your way back.
*Listen to and download Elsewhere [here](https://linktr.ee/lucveermeer).*
