Maxwell Byrne has a Pop artist’s appreciation for ridiculous scale and shiny surfaces. The Brisbane musician frequently complements his tracks with cartoonishly outsized set pieces like a human hamster cagewonky papier-mâché lightning boltsor Jurassic Park-style CGI bugs. For megacity1000his second full-length dance record as 1tbspByrne created a miniature metropolis of the future—a bizarre utopia, equal parts SimCity and Abu Dhabi—and added a spoken-word introduction rhapsodizing about the promise of urban living. Even if the record’s concept ultimately feels about as durable as the cardboard skyscrapers that Byrne and his partner spent a month toiling over, megacity1000 is his most reliably fun and intricately constructed collection of club music to date.
As Golden Vessel, Byrne is an established figure in Australia’s indie-pop scene, and a prolific and respected collaborator with a host of artists including Mallrat and BAYNK (with whom he was nominated for a Grammy last year). But Byrne has also become an increasingly in-demand DJ, and he’s released a clutch of well-received bangers as 1tbsp. That’s a promising development, because he’s a more compelling producer than he is a performer; his ear of him for detail conveys far more personality than the bland anonymity of his winsome Triple J vocal delivery of him.
Byrne has an easy and infectious command of rhythm, stacking his drums so that they thump, rattle, and gallop all at once, and balancing his tracks’ pent-up momentum with blindingly bright synths. This interplay between surface shimmer and rhythmic muscle makes even the most relentless songs feel oddly lightweight and lithe. “Neurasync” and “MC1K” give off a metallic glint reminiscent of K-LONE at his most punchy and dynamic, while the bouncy guitar groove supporting the affectless vocals on “Somebody Pay Nina” sounds as if someone took Oil XL on a tropical vacation.
Even though Byrne’s fictional city doesn’t belong to any specific geographic region, it’s hard to imagine it isn’t located within earshot of a TraTraTrax party. The influence of Latin club is pronounced across the record, particularly in its many sped-up reggaeton samples, which he uses to heighten the intensity. Given the relatively short run time, the recurrence of those motifs can occasionally feel like a crutch, a shorthand for another level of party-starting that 1tbsp doesn’t totally earn.
The best Spanish-language track by far is “Limosina,” which features a shit-talking performance by Cherry Chola. Byrne lays down spritely synth plucks and an impatient, stuttering beat; the Venezuelan Australian singer compares her glamorous lifestyle with her shitty Corolla before driving off to the sound of garish flashing synths. The two forceful personalities cut a carefree path through Byrne’s imagined city, conveying a particularly inspired sense of place.
