Estonian-born, Perth-based producer Hans T drops “Tensions” on September 10th, a track he’s described as his most experimental to date. He went in without a time limit or any self-imposed rules, chasing whatever felt right in the moment, drawing on Sub Focus, Kanine and the Australian drum and bass scene that’s shaped him since relocating. Despite the dubstep tag attached to this one, it sits closer to that Australian dnb lineage in practice, built around a metallic, driving bassline running underneath heavy but euphoric leads, moving quickly from its opening into a tight, compact build.
There’s no way to sit through this without getting pulled along. The track pushes forward with real momentum, the pacing is sharp throughout, and the sound selection is genuinely excellent- the kind of choices that make a track feel intentional rather than assembled from whatever was lying around the sample folder. That intention comes through sonically too. Hans has said his goal is to make music people scream along to, just as other artists’ work has carried him through hard moments, and that desire to give listeners a sense of freedom is audible in the way the track is put together. It’s a wholesome aim, and one that resonates with me personally.
At 22, with 14 years of DJing and eight years of production behind him, plus time in the military that he credits with the discipline to keep pushing on his own terms, Hans T has clearly put in the work to back up the ambition. “Tensions” reads as a genuine statement of where he’s at as a producer right now, unrestrained and confident enough to follow an idea wherever it goes, and it’s easy to see this one connecting with a lot of people beyond just the dnb crowd he’s speaking to directly.