[International Records Recordings]

Michaela Dippel (aka Ada) likes to say she was raised by pink ponies, fashioned herself as pseudo-vampire, and had a blond pup named Fizzmann. If you pay close attention, these are all selling points for her music. Ada is part of Areal, a label which dabbles in large amounts of distorted fuzz, songs that double as dance tracks and a surreal PR department. From her first single “Blindhouse,” Ada has stood out as the label’s devout populist. Her tracks are hyper-saturated with melodies, full of synths that alternate as down-pillows or stun-guns. Paired with her singing voice, it’s easy to interpret Ada as Areal’s softer, warmer (and *ahem* feminine) side. But Ada’s disinterest in hiding her music in Areal’s characteristic faux-grit makes her records age better than most of her label peers’.

Ada’s latest single arrives on Areal’s new sub-label International Records Recordings. IRR might be the most banal name in techno, but the label’s output from John Daly and DJ Koze has been anything but ordinary. Ada’s contribution is just as bizarre, despite a B-side, “Kink-a-Jou,” which is just pleasant enough — the track’s drums shimmy as the melody dissipates into the mist. The standout, though is “Forty Winks.” The A-side is broken into three parts, each less dance-worthy than the last. Pared down to a muffled breakbeat, organ drone and a plaintive guitar, “Forty Winks” is decidedly quiet. It stumbles completely away from Ada’s melody-drenched sweet-spot and in the process becomes more sensitive and affecting. Stretched around a confetti of guitar strums, “Forty Winks”‘ tone is a sleepwalk’s mixture of tugged heart-strings and placidity. The hackneyed phrase “Forty Winks” might suggest a track to nap to, but “Forty Winks” is the first worthy soundtrack to Ada’s pink ponies and vampire daydreams.