As they are now Eatbrain darlings with multiple releases on the imprint since 2024, Polish upsart duo TESSERACTS have been officially vetted into the neurofunk world, but they are arguably more experimental and underground. Their upcoming EP Mission on Jade Venom’s imprint proves that, as it’s full of unconventional sound pairings and just enough hard, grinding vibes to be called neuro. They’re walking a line with these tracks, but it might just be the push this subgenre needs.
It should come as no surprise TESSERACTS’ origin is not in neuro. It was actually Reid Speed and her ultra-diverse label Play Me Too who first took a chance on the unorthodox producers back in late 2021 and 2022 with a series of breaks singles. Back then the TESSERACTS sound had that aggressive 90s Prodigy flare, so it’s easy to see how they were able to transition to aggresive drum and bass. By their first track, ‘Pipe Dreams’, on with Enkei’s Ictasis Audio (now Ictasis Music Group), they were clearly honing that hard edge into something shaper and more conducive to 174. They began to toggle back and forth between breaks and D&B throughout 2023 before landing their first EP on Eatbrain in early 2025.
What the neuro world was presented with in Two Turntables and the Mic must have been a shock to many strict adherents, as from their perspective, it could only be described as chaotic. The title track alone contained classic funk – complete with a 70s style analog bassline – metal, rap and a goey gangster hip hop core. The neurofunk contained within all this madness, however, was pure teeth-grinding gold. TESSERACTS were definitely on the neuro board, but they were running all over it, and The Hoarde just had to accept it.
If punters thought they were getting a break and TESSERACTS would somehow drop into a more comfortable neuro formula with Mission, they would be mistaken. The duo’s second EB EP is just as punchy, crunchy, rich and defiantly weird as their first, with a head-splitting VIP of ‘CEO of the Underground’, loads of deep and dirty neurofunk sprinkled with amens and other surprising jazz and funk elements seemingly thrown in arbitrarily, and that heavy almost sub-bass synth that has become their signature.
The title track and today’s premiere is a neuro soft-lob into the madness of the rest of the EP, but don’t expect TESSERACTS to pull any punches. There’s still a multi-disciplinary feel to this track as they combine their doomsday bass synth with a light, snappy almost airy drumline a’la Curent Value. It’s a balanced chaos in this track that feels like an intentional push to the boundaries of neuro. ‘Mission from God’, indeed.
TESSERACTS are certainly an artist to keep an eye on as they continue their mission to wake up hard drum and bass and push the envelope even further, but fans should also be put on notice that these guys signify a shift in neuro itself, hopefully back to being as cutting edge and surprising as it used to be. TESSERACTS and artists like them are the watchwords.
Mission drops Friday, 20 February on Eatbrain. Pre-order/save here.
