¡EUREKA! - Eureka The Butcher

¡EUREKA! by Eureka The Butcher

Find a moment of clarity. ¡EUREKA! is the new LP on Alpha Pup from Eureka the Butcher, a collection of intense, involved tracks with deliberate arrangements and undefinable style.

Artists and searchers long for that “eureka” moment – an illuminated instance of clear purpose and pure focus. For Eureka the Butcher, as for many, the light follows the dark:

“I wrote a lot of this album at a very dark time in my life. I'd lost some very important people in my life and I was at my most insecure, personally and musically speaking. I had to remember where I come from, who I'd learned from. I was at a low point and I hadn't been applying my culture and my upbringing to my everyday life. But then I had a moment of clarity, and I started to feel better. I began remembering that I come from an incredible place, raised and taught by incredible people. Then I made some drastic decisions, including moving to Los Angeles. I also had a eureka moment in terms of workflow and approach.”

The album’s multifaceted nature reflects Eureka’s diverse inspiration. Modular synth music of the ‘60s and ‘70s. LA’s rap, electronic, beat, and bass music scene. Hardware used to create the album dominates its sonic profile, from synthesizers and outboard compressors to live percussion and tape delays.
“But the biggest influence is the music I grew up with: salsa, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, and fusion. These types of music taught me how to play… I gravitated towards what I know: psychedelia, fast bass, synth lines, Caribbean rhythms and extremely tight relationships between interwoven parts.”

Every track is created from scratch. Eureka explains:

“The approach was the same for every song: make it from scratch and play it live. There are no samples or presets on this album. There are no soft synths. 80% of the sounds were made on a modular synthesizer, so those sounds started out as single waveforms that were shaped and manipulated into more complex tones. The percussion sounds are all played live either with real drums, synthesized drums, or a mixture of the two. Any programming was done on analog sequencers so I could introduce a live performance element in that area as well.”
¡EUREKA! breathes and feels alive, fluctuating with energy. Sharp turns create a rich complexity that holds the attention captive. Tracks flip effortlessly between vibes, sounds, moods.

Unexpected sonic peaks emerge in “The Slow Rise” and set the tone for the album. “The Heaviness” is laid-back and spread out, with delicate stones skipping over a trappy insistence. Engines accelerate and drones buzz overhead.

“Falling Short” is pulled taut with stretched-out synths, inhabited by a monkey mind and the messy feel of memories. With an almost Gothic structure, “Super Movements” sinks deep into your head and twists.

Sahtyre wrote and recorded the lyrics on the spot in “Rap Songs” shortly after hearing the track being played at Cosmic Zoo recording studio in Los Angeles. Raw and revving, it’s deviant fun. “Dunzo” brings beats with gravel on the bottom and an elastic quality, grinding out the album in a final, downward drive: clarity through chaos.