In the past year, Essáy seems to have struggled in making the jump from SoundCloud beatmaker to legitimite producer. After gracing our Downloads section with a numberofpromisingtracks in 2011, the German producer has since appeared on a variety of labels but has so far been unable to recapture the inviting “emotional techno” on which he built his intial buzz. Unfortunately, “Find You” follows along this same trajectory, which is likely why the sole original tune offered here comes tucked away behind a pair of remixes that outshine it.

Opening the EP (which is being offered on 10″ vinyl to commemorate the Fauxpas label’s tenth release) is a remix from Sven Weisemann, operating here as Desolate. His rework dips into moody, post-dubstep territory almost immediately, building a pattern with roomy kicks, hats, and rims, on top of which icy chords and a somber piano melody trickle in and out. Over the course of the six-plus-minute effort, Desolate displays a necessary patience in adding to the song’s core, allowing the original’s rearranged vocals to appear every so often as a variety of miniature textures take shape. It’s clearly a familiar derivative of Burial, but one that takes on a more sullen and sleepy atmosphere than expected while also imbuing the track with a pleasant dose of pop sensibility.

On the flipside, Russia’s somewhat elusive Nocow provides the EP with its best piece of audio, a machinist reshaping of “Find You.” Filled to the brim with the gritty textures and hazy sonics the St. Petersburg producer has made his calling card, Nocow’s remix settles into a steadily bobbing rhythm early on before eventually building into a refracted, quasi-techno groove anchored by long notes of understated—but still buzzing—bass. True to the original track, the remix is stepped in a palpable sense of mood, the floating, reverb-washed pads and vocals serving as a welcome counterbalance to the beat churning below.

Essáy’s original closes out the record on a somewhat underwhelming note. Overrun with questionable vocals (not because they are off key, but more so because they’re just unnecessary in their traditional delivery) and unable to really land on anything as substantial as the EP’s previous two tracks, “Find You” is another Essáy song that inexplicably falls short of his previously demonstrated potential.