[Livity Sound]

For a label with such a seemingly strong sonic identity, Livity Sound releases tend to surprise with just how far flung the label’s palette truly reaches. Though the impeccably produced tracks always carry some measure of shattered rhythms and dubwise philosophy, Livity’s seven records, from Pev’s weirdo steppers through Kowton’s grimey house takes and Asusu’s effortless techno gliders, speak to both the roots and the diversity of Bristol’s music. Yet the records have always felt like class-A DJ tools — injecting a sense of space and rhythmic intrigue into a set while shifting between main events. Until now, though, Livity Sound has lacked an anthem. Both “Infinity Is Now” and “End Point” happen to be just that.

With more straight-laced rhythms than the label might be used to, “End Point” is all about its massive rave synths, initially bubbling up under the surface, soon full blown in their intensity. There’s nary a misstep throughout the whole side, with percussion aiding and abetting the cut’s linear rise and fall with steely focus, its head down but its hands in the air. While perhaps a bit of an outlier in the Livity canon, it’s without a doubt a label highlight, and one that’s sure to get a lot of play by DJs both in and out of Bristol. B-side, “Vapours,” reminds of some of Pev’s other work on the label, but again sets a label high-point with its strong, hand-drummed syncopations and bone-rattling subs. Taken as a whole, Livity Sound’s seventh release cements the label’s reputation as Bristol’s most exciting at the moment — an impressive feat given the city’s history, but one which increasingly seems like Pev’s to lose.