Mata / Eva by Otus

Crack Copies welcome South London producer and DJ Otus to the label with the double A side release “Eva / Mata”. He’s been an established part of the UK underground for a few years now, having released on Scuba’s label Echorex in 2022 and in January of this year a collaborative EP with Nadi, described by Clash Magazine as “moving from speed garage to first wave grime via Bengali vocal samples”.

The moment he sent us the demo for “Mata” it went off in our Crack Copies Whatsapp and we quickly made plans to put it out. It’s a raucous bit of club energy, all thundering bass, hypnotic vocal chops and euphoric synth pads. Immaculate sound design, but with loads of soul. “Eva” keeps the same vibe, carried by trancey stabs, dubstep sonics and UK bass rhythms, the perfect companion to the opener. Just two straight up bangers.

This release came about after Otus had suffered from several months of writers’ block. “Eva came first out of the release,” he says. “I wrote it in a studio space in Brixton and I’d actually been struggling with writer's block for like four or five months but this track broke it. I think what inspired them both was focusing on sound design and just experimenting. It’s easy to lose sight of playing around when you’re trying to write a new release but these capture me having fun with producing again.”

Inspired by artists like Verraco and Joy O, this is the second release in Crack Copies “Torrents” series, a run of tracks designed specifically for the club. Otus initially wanted to be an engineer or an architect before pursuing music, and you can hear that meticulous approach in his tunes. However, that attention to detail comes with no sacrifice of energy or character. Genuinely one of our favourite Crack Copies releases so far, get on it.