Tipper Stays Active, Releases Deliciously Downtempo “Fathoms” EP

–Written by Kevin Madert

Shortly after the release of Broken Soul Jamboree in 2008, downtempo virtuoso and glitch pioneer Dave Tipper began experiencing various health issues. The issues continued for nearly five years, limiting his production and touring output to a few EPs and a handful of dates during that time. In the summer of 2013, his health grew dire enough to necessitate open heart surgery, news that had many concerned for the future of both Dave and his music.

But in the intervening months, Tipper released a full-length masterpiece of a downtempo album (Forward Escape), played multiple dates (including an opening slot for Bassnectar’s massive New Year’s Eve extravaganza in Nashville), and generally became much more active musically. This brings us to yesterday, when the British producer/performer released Fathoms, a five-song EP of slurring, technical downtempo that takes the vibes present on Forward Escape and submerges them under six feet of water.

Tipper’s work is best experienced in full, so I won’t bother with a track-by-track recap – although “Deep Sixing” features a crazy finale and disc-opening “Sorus” is four minutes of sonic beauty no one else could have crafted. Bottom line? This is a fantastic EP, and its release (less than a year after Forward Escape) indicates Dave Tipper is still going strong – great news for fans and music lovers alike.

Tipper’s Fathoms EP is out now via Addictech. You can stream it in its entirety below, and purchase it on Bandcamp.