On March 15th, Boston-based producer Maxfield returned with the release of Kerfuffle, the second installment in an EP series that follows the release of Boondoggle in December. Drawing inspiration from genres as diverse as future bass, psybient, neurohop, jazz, and more, Kerfuffle explores the deceptive calms, theatrical insights, and wild upheavals of the hypnagogic journey in and out of dreams.
Featuring album art by Kyle Harrington, who designed the cover of Boondoggle as well, it serves as both a thematic extension to the first EP and a world of its own. In Maxfield’s own words, the EP is “a sonic representation of dreams and the fickleness of our perceptions…”
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The first track, “Befuddled,” opens with soft and scattered glitches that hit the ears like hidden birds in a dense digital darkness and builds into horn-like neurodub replete with bass distortions and wonky flips. This graceful transition reminds one of the drift and upstart of early sleep.
With the narrative set in motion, Maxfield blends the first track into the oneiric bounce of “Rapid Eye Movement.” Here, you feel like you’re swaggering through the maze of a metropolitan mindscape, startled by surprises at every corner.
Get your funk face on for “Dreamsicle” as you bop into a chimerical funhouse of doinks and glassy twinkles. Lastly, travel into “Through The Window In The Trees,” a textured future bass gem full of liquid slips.
This final track simulates the intensity and confusion of a dream’s uncertain end as the listener wakes at last to the womb-like guitar of sunlit recognition, the body felt, returned, real, making this EP a cohesive cycle of life behind closed eyes. You’ll never again mistake sleep for a gap in animation.
You can give Kerfuffle a deep listen on Bandcamp, SoundCloud, or your favorite streaming service. If you find yourself wanting more, be sure to catch Maxfield at the Ogden Theater in Denver on April 6th, on a bill with Tripp St., Spoonbill, Mindex, and Kuhlin. It’s certain to be an unforgettable night.