Montreal duo Bas Relief present a collection of rough-cut IDM and pitch-corrected emo on Insulary, a five-song EP. Written and compiled long distance from threads of bass music-inspired alt pop and guitar recorded in isolation, Insulary is the duo’s first substantial release since 2018. Granulated microglitches fill out the digital drum arrangements, calling on influences Baths and Loraine James, overlaid with warm piano progressions, melancholic guitar loops, collaged vocal production, and forlorn vocals hazed like a shapeshifted memory.

Bas Relief have been making music together since childhood, their music evoking a sentimentality and nostalgia rooted in a deep, interwoven history of two lifelong friends and collaborators. Originally cutting their teeth in math rock and emo bands – one is a member of Gulfer and the other at Topshelf Records – their rich, singular, sound has since landed somewhere between emo, IDM, and UK bass.