Khotin's early releases were among the best efforts of the mid-2010s house underground, with standouts like "Why Don't We Talk" and "Baikal Acid" featuring hauntingly sweet melodies and spacious effects anchored by steadily propulsive beats. Since that era, he's received more attention for subsequent full-lengths like
New Tab and
Beautiful You, which move away from club tracks and inhabit more private, introspective spaces.
Release Spirit is his third release with
Ghostly International, following a reissue of
Beautiful You and 2020's
Finds You Well. Like those albums,
Release Spirit mixes downtempo breakbeats and smudgy ambiance, incorporating lush field recordings and playful voices into tracks that equally evoke a nature walk and a trip back into childhood. The presence of primitive samples and Casio presets suggest that
Khotin has been experimenting with electronic music since youth, but through years of experience, he's now able to produce more finely detailed work while keeping the spirit that inspired him to start creating music in the first place. "Lovely" blends playful vocal samples, simple keyboard melodies, and whooshing synths, flashing back to early-'90s ambient techno but retaining homespun character. Icy ripples trickle downward over the burbling acid of "Home World 303," and clunky Casio drums are used to surprisingly atmospheric effect on the levitating midtempo track "Computer Break (Late Mix)." The breezy "Fountain, Growth," featuring guest
Tess Roby, and the sentimental "Unlimited <3" contain more vocals than other
Khotin tracks (even if the latter has just one repeated sample), ending up closer to abstract pop songs than most of his work. The concluding "Sound Gathering Trip" is a gorgeous sound bath consisting of weathered pianos and distant new age textures. ~ Paul Simpson
![Black Mill Tapes [10th Anniversary Box Set]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/4062548019261_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Black Mill Tapes [10th Anniversary Box Set]")
