Other than a track on 3024’s Dovercourt compilation of Canadian producers, Solstice represents Graham Bertie’s first entry as Nautiluss this year. Its four tracks fall into the same contoured, sort of genre-less tech-house as his contribution to that EP. Bertie uses a lot of familiar sounds, but does not stick to a particular arrangement pattern. This means that his tracks can vary in quality, and that variance is at the heart of this record.

The title track is centered around soaring, streaky strings that have been maneuvered into a stock progressive framework, which is to say the song is constantly either building or breaking down. “Corvus” suffers from this as well; its chiseled acid bassline and steady, tightly wound drums are chiefly about conjuring a “climactic moment,” as they build in a very linear, logical way. Bertie is more interesting on a track like “Neptune,” which evokes Detroit techno’s more placid side with its rippling watercolor groove. The “Lost in Space” mix of “Corvus” is also impressive, submerging the bassline and adding puttering, shuffling percussion to a track that needed those elements of deepness. Overall, the producer is appealing to several different sorts of listeners on this EP, which makes it a slightly bumpy proposition.