Since April 2020, Ronny Quasar (aka Matt Rolfe) has been hard at work dishing out collection after collection of his imaginative and experimental beat music. According to the press release, his latest and fifth release Tropicality “draws on the mutations of equatorial music from around the globe”, and it’s a fittingly elusive way to describe the sounds heard here. Across these 14 tracks, we’re taken on a rollercoaster ride through shapeshifting instrumentals that blur together elements of psychedelia, funk, electronica and ambient pop. Ronny isn’t joking when he says “this music is for peninsula hotels verging the jungle wilderness”; in fact, it’s easy to imagine Tropicality soundtracking your next fever dream.

A highlight from the record is ‘Catamaran’, a haphazard soundscape that builds around a restless backbeat while bubbling synths zoom in and out. With its rhythmic mish-mash and turbulent instrumentation, the track’s initial moments feel somewhat anxiety-inducing, but as the groove settles into our heads ‘Catamaran’ turns transportive; and as the layers warp and glitch at its conclusion, we’re left with a balmy, giddy sense that’s not too distant from the feeling of returning from holiday. Coupled with the new clip for the track, which unravels around repetitive and slightly unsettling stock footage, it’s a bit of an otherworldly experience, but one that makes it all the more tempting to pop Tropicality on at your next dinner party just to see what might happen.