Rival Consoles drops new track “Gaivotas”

Rival Consoles is the alias of UK-based electronic musician Ryan Lee West who’s making an impact in the electronic music world with his driving, experimental compositions. Known for creating complex, yet enthralling soundscapes, Rival Consoles has spent over a decade exploring the fringes of electronic music, crafting tracks that pair analogue textures with minimalist, conceptual ideas.

His journey has taken him from the early days of intricate IDM releases to his more recent foray into ambient, genre-breaking pieces. He first received attention with his early EPs, showcasing a blend of intricate, challenging IDM which revealed an artist unafraid to explore the avant-garde side of electronic music, leaning into experimentalism while maintaining a sense of cohesion that would come to define his sound.

By 2011, with the release of “Kid Velo,” Rival Consoles began shifting towards a more accessible, dance-focused style, integrating electro-house elements into his work. However, his sound has never stayed in one place for long. Over time, his music grew increasingly conceptual, with albums such as Howl in 2015 and 2021’s Overflow focusing on minimalism and social commentary.

Now, Rival Consoles returns with a brand new single titled “Gaivotas,” the first track from his forthcoming ninth studio album. Written during an experimental residency in Portugal, “Gaivotas” is a genre-blurring outing that hints at the next phase of the artist’s thrilling sonic adventure.

Opened by the pulsing textures of glistening synths, a mesmeric soundscape slowly takes hold as the contrasting rhythms of stuttered tones usher in bright flutters of rattling synths. Accented by percussive shots, the energy gently swells to stride towards a BICEP-esque dance experience before holding back the charge of rhythms to maintain an intricate, downtempo scene full of hypnotic quality and engaging sound design.

In addition to his new music, Rival Consoles is set to tour with Icelandic electronic duo Kiasmos for select European dates this September. Following this, he will return to North America for the Slingshot Festival in October, along with four headline shows in the Northwest. These live performances promise to be immersive experiences, reflecting the depth and nuance of his studio releases.

Commenting on his recent work, he shares, “This music feels like one of the most intuitive things I have ever written. The momentum that the piece establishes in the first breath pushes forward right until the very end and many of the ideas were created in a first-take moment that were exciting and liberating.”

Watch the music video for Gaivotas below