GENRE: Electronic
LABEL: Kynant/ N.E.W.S.
REVIEWED: 27th September 2025
RATING: 7.0/10
Paul St. Hilaire’s w/ the Producers arrives as both a celebration and a statement: marking the tenth anniversary of Kynant Records, it realigns the trajectory of dub techno by placing St. Hilaire squarely at its emotional core while leaning on a diverse stable of producers.
In contrast to his 2023 release Tikiman Vol. 1, which foregrounded his own production skills, here he reverses the model: his voice floats over nine tracks, each shaped by a different producer. Among the contributors: dubstep legend Mala, avant-electronic experimenters Azu Tiwaline and Gavsborg, and dub techno stalwart Shinichi Atobe.
From the opener, “Like It’s Always Been,” Mala frames St. Hilaire’s presence with tension and restraint—fractured percussion, enveloping bass, and a sense of latent dread. Conversely, “Time to Wake Up,” co-produced by Atobe, embodies minimalism at its most austere: sparse kicks, distant chords, and space that lets St. Hilaire’s phrasing breathe. Highlights also include “Send Them On,” where Priori nods to earlier St. Hilaire–Rhythm & Sound textures before pushing into more urgent territory. And “Free Your Mind,” courtesy of Batu, turns St. Hilaire into a quasi-robotic figure through deft voice processing and heavy bass torque.
Resident Advisor praises the album as “a curatorial masterstroke”: despite the stylistic breadth of its contributors, the record maintains coherence—St. Hilaire’s voice acting as the thread stitching all the sonic palettes together. On the other hand, some fans on forums expressed skepticism, singling out only a few tracks (by Priori and Atobe) as truly resonant.
On the whole, w/ the Producers inhabits a darker, more subterranean emotional palette than St. Hilaire’s earlier outings. It traffics in tension, fragmentation, and the uncanny. Yet within that realm it succeeds: the album repositions St. Hilaire not merely as a guest vocalist in the dub techno canon, but as a guiding force. It’s immersive, often challenging, but richly rewarding particularly for listeners attuned to the intersections of dub, techno, and experimental electronic music.
