Panic Attack: Eli Brown Revisits His Bristol Rave Roots

Eli Brown brings the breakbeats of his Bristol drum & bass years into the techno of Panic Attack, his debut album on Insomniac Records. Across 14 tracks, the former Loadstar producer draws on jungle and trance, with guest appearances from Dimension, IRAH and BARBZ.

The Bristol roots of Panic Attack

Before he took the name Eli Brown, Gavin Harris recorded as Xample. His partner in Loadstar was Nick Hill, who recorded as Lomax. The pair released “The Latter” as Xample & Lomax in 2007 and went on to make Future Perfect, their first Loadstar album, in 2013. Panic Attack marks a different first for Harris: it is the first full-length record he has released as Eli Brown.

There is a Bristol address behind that history. In its profile of Loadstar, RAM Records describes the duo working in the same studio where Roni Size, DJ Die and Krust had established Full Cycle. For listeners who came to Brown through techno, Loadstar’s catalog offers a way to hear what he was making in that city before his sets were fixtures at festivals such as Coachella and Tomorrowland.

Brown began recording under his current name in 2016. By then, he had spent years working with the rolling breaks and low frequencies of UK drum & bass. Those influences run through the album alongside jungle, trance and the driving techno of his more recent singles. Brown describes the connection in terms of what it felt like to be in the crowd before he was the one playing the records.

“The ethos behind the album was to try and take the listener back to a time where you lost yourself in the rave,” Brown said in the release announcement.

Dimension, IRAH and BARBZ on the album

Brown released five singles ahead of Panic Attack, closing the rollout with “Badman Riddim.” Its place near the opening gives IRAH an early entrance, while listeners who first heard the project through “Frequency” have ten tracks to get through before they reach it. The full sequence is available on Apple Music.

Three guest tracks give listeners a way into the 14-song record. UK MC IRAH appears immediately after the title track on “Badman Riddim,” followed by singer-songwriter BARBZ on “Stay Right Here.” Brown saves his collaboration with drum & bass producer Dimension, “Frequency,” for the final stretch, placing it between “Blueprint” and “Do It Again.” “Surround Me” closes the album.

“Frequency” also gives Brown a link back to the drum & bass audience he first played for. According to Insomniac, the Dimension collaboration picked up support from Andy C as well as Adam Beyer, Armin van Buuren and Carl Cox. The range of DJs who took it into their sets helps explain why a drum & bass producer makes sense on a bill of collaborators for Brown’s first techno LP.

Before the album, Brown teamed up with Danny Avila and SACHA on “Gotta Go”. On Panic Attack, previously released singles including “Electrify,” “It’s Like That” and “Damaged” now sit alongside the title track and the guest cuts.

“Gotta Go” came out on Brown’s own label, Arcane. SACHA has described its lyric as a woman taking control of a conversation with a prospective partner. Brown, meanwhile, said he had been playing the track in his sets all year. The album takes a more personal starting point: in the release announcement, Brown says he wanted to capture the freedom he felt as a listener on the dance floor.

Eli Brown brings the album tour to downtown Los Angeles

Factory 93 presents Eli Brown at City Market in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, November 14. The 21+ show runs from 5 to 11 p.m. at 1057 San Pedro Street. Insomniac describes it as Brown’s largest headline booking to date, with a warehouse-inspired production planned for the site. Factory 93 lists the Los Angeles event details here.

The tour has already taken Brown to Factory Town, The Concourse Project and Washington, D.C.’s Echostage. After City Market, the run is scheduled to close on November 21 at Electric Brixton in London.

Panic Attack tracklist

1. Panic Attack
2. Badman Riddim (featuring IRAH)
3. Stay Right Here (featuring BARBZ)
4. They Forgot
5. Electrify
6. It’s Like That
7. Spinning Out
8. Stepback
9. Damaged
10. Blueprint
11. Frequency (featuring Dimension)
12. Do It Again
13. India Vibes
14. Surround Me