Australian producer Roza Terenzi has spent 2020 establishing herself as one of the most distinctive voices in the global underground — a barnstorming Boiler Room set and a Dekmantel Selectors appearance among the highlights — and she sees the year out with Stylish Tantrum, a five-track EP that doubles as the launch release for Step Ball Chain, the Berlin label she co-runs with DJ Zozi and which is distributed by One Eye Witness. With collaborations alongside D. Tiffany and Saoirse, mastering from Alden Tyrell and artwork by True Tender, it’s a confident statement of intent from the very first pressing.
Opening track Cosmology drops you straight into the label’s world: a hypnotic, off-kilter groove of skittering percussion and a squelchy bassline that writhes around the four-to-the-floor kick, with pads billowing in and out of a haze of reverb. The title track Stylish Tantrum is the EP’s centrepiece — a seven-minute roller of dubby stabs, acidic tweaks and loose, swung drums that carry an unmistakably Australian lightness. It’s playful without ever feeling throwaway, the kind of record that rewards both the dancefloor and the headphones in equal measure.
The first collaboration, Chosen Family Feud with D. Tiffany, is exactly the sum of its parts: the pair trade rubbery bass riffs and glossy chord stabs over a driving, heads-down beat, whilst delicate melodic flourishes keep the mood buoyant. It feels like a meeting of equals, two producers clearly enjoying each other’s company. Illusions follows with a dreamier disposition, all shimmering arpeggios and floating pads over a bassline that rolls with a slow, seductive confidence.
Closing track Sxc Saloon sees Roza team up with Saoirse for the EP’s most overt nod to electro — a chugging, mechanical groove topped with detuned synth stabs and an irresistibly cheeky energy. It’s a perfect sign-off, leaving the record feeling broader and braver than its running time suggests.
Overall, Stylish Tantrum is a superb calling card for both artist and label. It’s confident, fun and impeccably produced, and it makes one thing very clear: Step Ball Chain is a name we’ll be hearing plenty more of.
