Erica’s Acid – Blaix (2026) – Album Review

Album: Erica’s Acid [HTX159]

Artist: Blaix

Release Date: April 24, 2026

Label: Heterodox Records

I’ve seen Blaix play a number of times live between 2023ish and 2026, so when I read the album info for Erica’s Acid that said this album was built from live performances from 2022 to 2025, I was a bit intrigued. As I covered in the last scene report (Scene Report: MODBANG PDX at The Six – Hosted by Heterodox Records), Blaix’ work is always very interesting to me because I get something a little different every time I listen.

I guess the real question is, what’s the story here? What’s the motivation? I don’t know much about Blaix the artist other than what he’s presented to us. Admittedly the music feels very safe for me – not formulaic or mundane – but safe. It has an empathetic pulse running through it, the strange and increasingly radical sense that the person making the sounds actually gives a damn about other people. Empathy in 2026. Imagine that. Cutting edge shit. The production is really strong here. To say you can hear the the live-performance DNA is a bit ridiculous because every piece of recorded music carries some trace of the original performances that made it – still, there is kind of a blueprint here. The album gives you a sense of Blaix working across time, treating material from 2022 through 2025 as something still alive, still pliable, still capable of being shaped through the dystopian filter and sensibilities of 2026.

That fascinates me. 2022 feels strangely distant now. Anyway, I really like this album. It has everything you could want from an electronic release in 2026. It’s got liquid acidic drums, depressingly upbeat chiptune hits and it’s got a lot of really intense haunting melodies. I think the track that helps encapsulates this album, for me, is definitely “Shoulder Blades“ but it could just as easily be Amberlight Recurse or Green Paneer Toast for you. The album gives you multiple entry points, and with all journeys in life, your mileage may vary. There’s a real chiptune-adjacent motif and brightness in some of the melodies and it gives this album a strange emotional glow beneath all the rhythmic dread. The release also includes a killer set of remixes, which gives the album an expanded sense of community and some additional context. We got one from Production Unit Xero, Baseck, Occurian, Family Trust, Terminal 11, FLX & Midwest Programme. The Baseck remix really stands out for its intensity, but again, YMMV.

Great album. Put it on your playlist.