By: Jordan Calvano

If you are familiar with Simplify Recordings, you know Aaron Simpson doesn’t mess around. Setting a high bar for his roster, which includes artists like Love and Light, Sugarpill, Minnesota, and Stephan Jacobs, Simpson knows talent when he sees it. Ambrus Deak meets that gold standard. A skilled artist from Budapest, Hungary performing under the alias AMB, he has proven himself an as a producer able to transcend genres and the norms of EDM.

Deak has been pushing out tracks for more than a decade, all the while adapting and improving in his quest to find his signature sound. He has released EP’s and singles on Breaks4Ever Records dating as far back as 2002—he’s no rookie in this electronic music game. As the co-founder of Chi Recordings, Deak has helped release more than 50 records worldwide. His Soundcloud bio states that apart from production he has also saved lives, fought in Vietnam, and has support from Michael Corleone and the Pope. With an extended career in the game, it’s good to see an artist who doesn’t take him or herself too seriously, as opposed to the swarms of jaded monkeys whose factory-produced tracks end up relegated to the scrap heap of history.

Eerie vocals slip us into “Stinger,” AMB’s debut Simplify single. These combine with dark but immersive piano chords that match the emphatic drums, ultimately driving the song home. Deak stays true to his breakbeat style while introducing new elements of glitch-hop to create a head banging jam that holds a solid pace through and through. “Stinger,” features vocals throughout the track, and while difficult to decipher, gives the cut a much more sinister, mysterious feel.

The B-side, “Loco Boogie,” is just that. The track opens up with the ringing of a bell from a train and glitched out scratches that set the pace for the song. It chugs into a groovy psychedelic sound, which is irresistibly funky and energetic. Solid transitions and a continually changing feel help this locomotive of a song rolling down the tracks. Ambient samples and emphatic drums propel the steel beast, keeping the listener in perpetual motion.

It’s fair to assume that this little delicacy is an appetizer for an EP or even full-length from AMB. Depending on the success of the single, there’s a good chance a bond has been forged between Simplify’s Simpson, and the elusive Ambrus Deak.