Leo’s Cicada Burnt Balances Precision With Instinct

Leo’s six-track Cicada Burnt sits at an interesting point in contemporary electronics. The Peak Oil EP is built on teknoid rhythms — clipped synth motifs, slack hi-hats, and steady sixteenth-note tension — but it resists settling into any single tradition. The artist folds dub, ambience, and bass music into individual compositions rather than switching between them track by track.

Opener “Qwershapes” sets the language quickly: precise percussion moving through expansive atmospheres. “Jetti” follows with emptiness and negative space used as active elements, a sign of the restraint that runs through the record. The title track is where the low-end pressure becomes most direct — wah-soaked synths and sculpted percussion over heavyweight bass, with a sense of play that never undercuts the weight.

“Descant” pushes muscular basslines into hypnotic territory, and the closing two-part “Spirit Level” moves from an elusive blend of ambience and found sound into something more cinematic. Throughout, Leo treats genre boundaries as material rather than limits. The result feels instinctive — not the kind of polish that suggests calculation, but the specificity that comes from a clear artistic position. It’s one of the strongest entries in Leo’s catalog, and a release that rewards close listening.