RZN8R drops new EP of covers

Brooklyn-based producer RZN8R, the artistic alias of classically-trained countertenor Derek Buckwalter, is a compelling figure in the ever-shifting world of electronic music. Raised in Oakland and now operating in New York’s underground music scene, RZN8R channels a lifetime of musical training and vast array of influences into a sound that’s at once spiritual and designed for the dancefloor. Fusing his love for vocal performance, beat-driven production and the transcendental edges of new thought spirituality, his work explores sound as both expression and energy.

A singer first and foremost, his creative voice developed through years spent sculpting beats and melodies across studios and stages. Since the release of his debut EP C S M C in 2014, he’s built an expansive catalogue that cuts across genres and moods, collaborating with a diverse array of artists including Austan Found, $aint Basil, Kaeli Earle and Xander Beltran. Along the way, he’s opened for names like A-Trak, Chromeo, Duckwrth and ATTLAS, performing sets that reflect both his ear for layered groove and his instinct for connecting with an audience.

Now, RZN8R takes an exciting step forward with MISTR, a genre-blurring, profoundly personal new EP that marks his most ambitious release to date. It’s his first project to fully feature his countertenor vocals, a distinctive sound forged through classical training and now stitched into modern dance music. Released exactly one year after his engagement, MISTR presents a statement of identity and a celebration of love, artfully reinterpreting male-penned love songs through a unique lens and infusing them with club-focused energy.

Ultimately, MISTR is a love letter to the dancefloor, filtered through the kaleidoscope of RZN8R’s expansive musical vision. Drawing inspiration from afro-beats, amapiano, stutter house, gospel, bass, baile funk and beyond, the EP is equally playful and powerful; an experiment in reframing nostalgia through the energy of the present.

Set up by “Get You,” the soft shimmer of airy instrumental textures are met with the laid back clicks of percussive elements as RZN8R’s elegant voice glides above to cast a dreamy soundscape. Building with the hurried energy of intricate beats, the track progresses with the staccato aesthetic of stuttered synths before bursting into a dazzling slice of uptempo dance pop music brimming with alluring vocal performance and invigorating arrangement.

“Adorn” follows with the mellow strike of drums and processed vocals, gliding into a grooving R&B-inflected outing that flows with the impactful pulse of shifting beats and graceful vocal leads. Peppered with graceful piano flashes and propelled by the infectious hop of the percussion, it’s another stunning showcase of RZN8R’s knack for reimagining other music in his own way.

With “Pyramid,” he crafts a spacey atmosphere of punchy beats and sweeping layers of synths that glide and chop in a surge of energy before the arrangement shifts into a delicate piano-focused scene. With pitched vocal touches, passages of bold bass energy and abrupt rhythmic switch ups, it’s a gripping outing of slick ebb and flow that’s catchy and absorbing throughout.

Closing the EP with “U Don’t Have To Call,” he presents a stellar jam of dreamy electric key tones, intricate guitar rhythms and a contrast of thumping beats and airy vocal performance. Instantly memorable and thoroughly danceable, it’s a charming cover that’s sure to delight listeners around the world. Across the release, RZN8R serves up songs meant to move bodies and stir hearts, cut with rhythmic detail and emotive vocal delivery that’s both intimate and larger than life.

Listen to MISTR below