M.E.S.H.’s New Track “Epithet” Is Calm Chaos

Straight away, with the title of his new single "Epithet," Berlin-based American producer M.E.S.H. is consciously defying labels. Given the word "Epithet" means a descriptive term, it acts as a stand-in for something concrete; he might as well have called the track "Title" or "Name," or "Try To Describe This One, Stupid."

Attempting to define any of Jamie Whipple's productions is a tricky business—with Janus, the experimental club collective he rolls with, and his debut EP Scythians, he builds beautiful open spaces that are cut through with surreal, isolated elements ripped out of club and pop culture. On "Epithet," that collage mindset is distilled into two beats that play hard to get with one another; the result is one that's eerily calm and spacious even as its rhythm is chaotic. Whipple explained to The FADER over email, "The track is made from two very different rhythmic speeds played on the same grid and made to fit together through syncopation. I wanted to create a sense of focus that can come from following two divergent lines of thought that eventually converge again in unexpected ways."

Listen to "Epithet" below; it's the first to be taken from M.E.S.H.'s debut album Piteous Gate, due via PAN on July 15th.