Pioneering Producer Rustie Returns With First Release in 9 Years, "Black Ice Mudra"

Rustie has returned with "Black Ice Mudra," his first new song in nearly a decade.

Rustie's name may not be big in today's TikTok-era music scene of viral-today-forgotten-tomorrow hits, but he's one of the world's most influential electronic artists. Thanks to his singular sound in which glitchy textures and buoyant melodies collide, he's your favorite producer's favorite producer.

Simultaneously avant-garde and playful, Rustie's tracks are aural funhouses where fizzy bitpop synths pirouette with staccato drum cracks. His fans have been willingly devolving into his wormholes of radiant bass and mind-bending beats since 2011, when he released his debut album Glass Swords.

The pioneering Glasgow producer is now back with his first new release since 2015's Warp Records album, EVENIFUDONTBELIEVE. That year saw Rustie cancel a number of shows "due to addiction and mental health problems," he announced at the time.

Devoid of drums, "Black Ice Mudra" channels his signature maximalist electronica by virtue of a flurry of piercing rave synths. It's unclear at the time of this writing whether or not a long-form project is in the works. Check out the new track below.