SaPa is a name we only know from 風物詩, the double-LP that landed on Giegling sister label Forum this past summer. That album laid out a massive yet cerebral sound, drowning distant techno rhythms in field recordings and thick layers of ambience. We Can Be Friends doesn't change that formula, but it does bring the drums somewhat closer to the front. 

The title track is a good encapsulation of SaPa's style: fearsome bass slathers the low-end like mud, while the beat wades through it, hesitant and off-piste. "Fast Jam" is more powerful, but even here the slamming drums seem to be disintegrating on impact. Dissolute in comparison, "Untitled II" almost completely smothers its rhythm in atmosphere; you could still play it in a set, but it'd be a weird moment.

"Morocco" gets the balance just right. At first it sounds like another abstraction, a splatter of sound lost in a pool of reverb. But listen closely and you can hear a faint melody cooing behind the drums. Like the best parts of 風物詩, "Morocco" can sound like a work of art hidden under frosted glass. We Can Be Friends might have landed like another no-frills 12-inch, but its ambitions stretch further than the dance floor. 

- Residen Advisor