Rave Review: Andy Martin - Tierra De Nuhuales
On Andy Martin’s new EP Tierra de Nahuales, they plumb the mystical depths of the dancefloor through the lens of Mesoamerican folklore. The title, literally meaning “land of the shape-shifters,” leans into the mythology that humans are linked at birth to an animal residing within — a concept befitting a release on Melbourne label Animalia.
This short release covers a lot of ground, commencing with “Sky Spirals,” a vivid, ritualistic piece that conjures the setting of a spiritual journey. From the outset, you are made to feel as if you’re standing on hallowed ground. Worshippers gather, voices recite incantations, and one can imagine looking up to see a vortex opening across a broad azure sky at the foot of a looming volcano, vaporous jet streams from the cauldron ominously streaking across the horizon. The EP continues along this trajectory, each track marking another step deeper into the journey.
A bit of a shape-shifter themselves, Martin is not just a proficient club technician, but also a remarkably adept dub producer. They’ve collaborated with dub master Lee Scratch Perry and contemporary Caribbean beatsmith Gavsborg, and here delay and reverb are used to brilliant effect. On “Pleiadian Sound Clash,” references to Jamaican dub clashes collide with visions of interdimensional entities, the clanging percussion pausing only long enough for a voice to glitch out of the digital void with a drawn-out “hhhheeelllllllllllllllllllloooo.” It sounds less like a conventional club track than a jam session conducted by machine elves hammering away on bongos.
“Afrofuturism” provides a reverent nod to the sci-fi visionaries in music and literature who used their craft to sketch blueprints for a liberated future. Of particular note here is Herbie Hancock, who introduced the idea of techno-primitivism, a concept that feels wholly aligned with Martin’s sound.
By the time the title track arrives, the transformation feels complete. “Tierra de Nahuales” is a show-stopping finale and a genuine peak-time mind-bender, the kind of track that would devastate a dancefloor at the darkest hour. It captures the shape-shifting energy exalted in late-night club spaces, where swirling lights and collective motion render us nearly unrecognizable, allowing us to become whatever our hearts desire. In those moments, the dancefloor becomes a place for reconnecting with something deeply primal.
(The Lunatic is an Austin, Texas–based raver spreading the good word through his reviews and blog—and by selling the wildest fucking electronic vinyl around.)
