"Be patient. Your future will come to you and lie down at your feet like a dog who knows and likes you no matter what you are." -Kurt Vonnegut

For GRN+GLD's 85th release, Basico & Dirty Merlin return as Source Flex. Composed of three tracks and clocking in at twenty minutes, Source Flex's 'Angel EP' is a wistful, mournful, and uplifting rumination on the inevitable. In this genre bending cosmic excursion, hints of IDM, jungle, electro, footwork, techno, and ambient music all intermingle. While the songs run at a brisk BPM, the high tempo rhythms are gently tempered by the lush, cinematic soundscapes woven around them.

Opening track 'Orbit' is the shortest and darkest affair on the EP. We hear choirs sing and guitars pluck on this techno infused electro track, as we follow their siren call deeper into the unknown. Upon 'Orbit's dark exit we are immediately greeted by the bright and uplifting synths of title-track 'Angel.' Precise drum programming and dripping synthlines elevate the user through the first half of this liquid-jungle track until we are dropped into it's driving speed-techno second half. Initially greeted by our angelic guide we are led to bear witness to sights we will only later understand. Fear, delight, bliss, longing, and gratitude all mix to form one singular emotion.

"My heart's in agony now, if you believe love is pain..." Closing track 'Love & Pain' is a pulsing footwork and techno fusion. Astral synths swirl, while a saccharine Windham Hill-esque piano line twinkles above. Our choir returns as pumping footwork patterns continually propel the track forward while the instrumentation swells. "Cherish the roots of the world, can you survive in the wild?"

Let us end where we began.

"Stephen Hawking ... found it tantalizing that we could not remember the future. But remembering the future is child's play for me now. I know what will become of my helpless, trusting babies because they are grown-ups now. I know how my closest friends will end up because so many of them are retired or dead now ... To Stephen Hawking and all others younger than myself I say: 'Be patient. Your future will come to you and lie down at your feet like a dog who knows and likes you no matter what you are.'"***

Forever in space. Enjoy the ride.

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***(This quote inspired Ted Chiang to write the novella "Story of Your Life," which was adapted by Denis Villeneuve and Eric Heisserer to create the movie "Arrival," which in part inspired Basico and Dirty Merlin's creation and conception of the 'Angel EP.' The quote can originally be found his introduction in the 25th anniversary edition of Kurt Vonnegut's novel "Slaughterhouse-Five.")