This fall, Detroit techno icons Octave One serve up the third volume of their Locus of Control EP series. The two-track offering again explores the ‘power or powerlessness people feel over the things that shape their world,’ and never has that been more true than during the last 18 months of the pandemic. It has almost been two years since the release of the last installment. Of course, the pandemic largely explains that delay, but that doesn’t mean the celebrated Burden Brothers haven’t stayed busy in other ways. Already in 2021, they have served up their Reworks and Whatever She Wants EPs, and have also revived their more introspective 90s alias Never on Sunday for a new EP later in 2021. More than 25 years after first starting out, they continue to shape the modern techno landscape with their famous analogue approach, as this new EP proves. It opens with the superb ‘Shameless,’ a heavily percussive yet elastic track that bangs from the start. The bassline is dark and menacing but also has a subtle sense of techno funk. Once the pixelated chords arrive, the track is doused in a cosmic energy that will take dance floors to the next level. Then comes ‘School of Seven Bells’, a straight-up seven- minute techno workout laden with rich layers of synth and a baseline full of suspense. It immediately gets you on your toes and the ever-evolving pads and loopy drums ensure maximum impact throughout. These are two more thought-provoking, body-shaking tracks from techno’s finest.