Review Summary: Kinetic energy
After her exhilarating collaborative EP
Ether with Ma Sha Ru, released in July 2021, Ayesha's worth as a producer is hard to call into question. The Brooklynite's presence was commanding and confident as she contributed the "fire" and "water" portions of the Four Elements-themed EP. Just a few months later,
Potential Energy, released on the UK dance label Scuffed Recordings, is another excellent entry in her short catalog.
What makes the UK Bass-influenced EP so potent is its synths, particularly on the first two tracks. They squeak, buzz, glisten, and chirp at the behest of Ayesha and to the delight of the listener. Alternately hefty and sleek, the masterful synth work makes each song feels glossy and refined while still being dance-able. Befitting of the synths are the beefy drums and bass lines, both of which which make a strong introduction on the title track. Despite being only three and a half minutes in length, it's a song so chock-full of exuberance and variety that it's practically bursting at the seams. It manages to be playful, intense, and mechanical over its short runtime thanks to Ayesha's refusal to linger on any one sound. Despite this, Ayesha's presence is still assured, preventing the song from feeling haphazard or disorganized; rather, it comes off as calculated and full of swagger.
The back half of the EP relies more on dizzying bass and floor-rattling breaks than the first half does, and it suffers slightly as a result, particularly on "We Be Bubblin." The vocoder-laden vocals nestled into the mix are a welcome addition, but there's not much else to give the tune a unique flavor like the sundry synth sounds on "Potential Energy" and "Ecstatic Descent" (the latter of which has a glistening synth line that's probably my favorite on the EP).
While it is also perhaps a metaphor for the pent-up creativity during the pandemic ( which of course disallowed producers from putting on live sets), the title
Potential Energy could explain Ayesha's current sense of herself as a musician; her potential is clear, and she has clearly shown herself to be a producer to watch in the coming years.
