Xen

Chen Steinberg is the kind of artist that makes every algorithm nervous: after tracks from her two EPs on Malka Tuti and Garzen, should it cue up dark post-punk and new wave in the sidebar, or discoid grooves? As Xen, the Tel Aviv artist makes music that comes from both corners of the music world. Here you can find collabs with tireless dance music producers like Man Power and Rex Axes; there, minimalistic and decidedly cool wave-pop together with Yovav Arzi. Steinberg's voice floats above it all, sometimes as distanced parlando, sometimes melody-oriented, then shredded into snippets. It's not all that easy with Xen, at least not when it comes to classifying her music. What's more than clear is that she's got the right mix.