Credit: TYNAN
TYNAN TIME
[By: TYNAN]
Genre: Briddim
Rating: 60
Cohesiveness: 58
Track quality: 64
Beginner-friendly? nope
Written 2026/03/18
TYNAN's authenticity is a refreshing quality in a sea of soulless festival dubstep. Still, it seems like repetitiveness can seep into even the most creative of outfits.
Fittingly (for the name), TYNAN TIME is the debut LP from TYNAN. This is a man who's left a trail of uncompromising creativity across his various exploits in the dubstep scene. He's explored the nooks and crannies of the genre and its neighbours, from colour bass to bass house, and he's done it all with a big smile plastered over his face. From a couple of spontaneous cameos on Monstercat to a particularly ridiculous run of short EPs in 2024, TYNAN has proved that he's not an unstoppable force necessarily, but a very fun one to watch nonetheless. Perhaps, though, when it came to a longer format of tracklisting, that plaster is beginning to show cracks. Perhaps it's beginning to peel off, if only a little.
TYNAN TIME does well to keep TYNAN's authenticity. There's a sense that he genuinely enjoys his craft, and the good humour is imparted into the tracklist - "coat check" opens with a hopeful tone (both in the crowd vocal and the band instrumentation), and though its style is ripped apart by the dubstep to come, there's always the imprint of TYNAN's silliness. His sampling and high-energy optimism are the lifeblood of TYNAN TIME, and they allow for the liberation of its personality - TYNAN TIME is self-aware and self-assured, brash enough to not take itself seriously.
The dubstep itself is where things get a little tenuous. That's mostly because it's surprisingly difficult to maintain a joyful tone whilst plunging into rapid-fire drops all over the place. TYNAN strikes upon a particular style of stompy yet wonky festival briddim, a style that's recognisable to its detriment. And whilst it certainly has impact - at least for a little while - it gets repetitive. Massive, jet-fueled sustains cleave through synth outburts and crushing quarter-note rhythms in a strangely familiar whirlwind of sound, spearheaded by Subtronics-esque, wobbly leads and tirelessly long fakeouts. Sure, TYNAN's got his own unique flair and it still comes off as genuine here, without sounding too tacky, but it just feels a little drowned out in the festival sound of it all.
The density of the record also plays to its detriment. At forty minutes of runtime but with a whole fifteen songs, most of the cuts off TYNAN TIME clock in at around two and a half minutes, often feeling like dopamine fishing and refusing to linger on any part of the track structure. When TYNAN does linger on something in this album, it turns out to be some of his best writing - take the interlude "smoke break", for instance, or the more expressive final two tracks "shinespark" and "remembering how to live" - but there's not enough time given to it. The volume of dubstep only contributes further, with other genres only making brief cameos, always surrounded by heavy briddim growls. Though TYNAN intertwines his bass stabs with tense lead melodies, they often boil down to the same quickfire buildup-fakeout-drop sequences with the occasional interesting idea thrown into the latter half of each track.
For one of the most unpredictable acts in dubstep, TYNAN has produced a surprisingly predictable album. It's packaged with an unavoidably charming personality, but TYNAN TIME seems to, at times, forget (or pera its honest character. It's fantastic in the sense that it doesn't want to take itself seriously at all - it's stunted in the sense that, sometimes, it doesn't care enough either way.
Listen on Spotify here.
coat check [Structural] | (/100)
A feel-good intro fronted by a groovy piano, over some progressive big band instrumentation. The crowd vocal is bustling but it feels very supportive, as does the lyricism, and "coat check" kicks into a triumphant and very happy movement that transitions to the next track.
his name is [Intense] | (/100)
A massive intro that carries from "coat check" goes into a pretty simple buildup and a surprisingly wonky, Subtronics-esque drop. The fakeout is needlessly long but the predrop sampling is very fun, and the sustain-driven drops are aggressive and maximalist without feeling too overblown, with the lead taking the reins for most of it.
on the beat [Switchup] | (/100)
It's tough to call this a switchup since it's only the second track of the album and it isn't necessarily unexpected, but it's the only bass house cut here. It's a stompy one, too, but this style of stompy bass house has been explored much further than what "on the beat" has to offer. The second drop deviates, but the sound design and rhythm feel awkward.
groovininininin [Heavy] | (/100)
w/ Izadi
This one wastes no time getting into its main sample motif, and, promptly afterwards, its buildup-drop sequence. That drop is an absolutely crushing dubstep one, with crescendoing stabs and interrupting sustains, but it also feels a little derivative.
cracked [Intense] | (/100)
I can only really describe the sound design here as a little 'splashy'. It's a weird decision, especially with the strong growls that surround it, and whilst it makes for some interesting flows, the songwriting around the drops feels too weak to justify it. The extended reflective outro is also interesting, but feels like a bit of a shoehorn.
on fire [Heavy] | (/100)
w/ Kompany
Kompany's typically chaotic briddim style feels reined in a little by TYNAN, to the track's detriment. "on fire" had a lot of potential, but it's held back by trying too hard to conform to a few repetitive leads, most notably the main piercing synth. The synthwave-esque outro is a very cool touch, though.
home [Standout] | (/100)
w/ Dani King
Dani King's vocal performance is strong and TYNAN's muted production fits well. It then explodes into a loud, overbearing briddim drop, and the tonal whiplash is clear despite a semblance of melody showing through. There are definitely some good ideas here, though.
bum rush [Heavy] | (/100)
w/ Space Wizard
Somewhat abrupt transition sneaks into an intro with a lot of sub, a brash sample and a powerful driving bassline. It's great until the all-too-familiar briddim flows inevitably force their way in; it dilutes the track quite a lot. The baile funk in the final movement is conceptually unique but soured by a strange choice of sound design.
mail [Switchup] | (/100)
w/ sfam
"mail" tries to continue the same broiling trap sounds of "bum rush", and for a time it sounds suspiciously like it's going to delve into another derivative riddim cut, but instead TYNAN opts for a freeform bass route. The wonkier, more minimal sound is a refreshing switch, though it feels a little jarring and unengaged, particularly with the empty second drop.
smoke break [Structural] | (/100)
The "smoke break" interlude is the same jazzy style as the intro "coat check", and it's equally upbeat. It's such a joyous style, though this time it descendoes rather than a triumphant crescendo - the idea is just as good, though, and the lack of a vocal helps rather than detracts.
world suck [Standout] | (/100)
w/ Daemon
Daemon's rap verse opens the track very nicely, but, just like a lot of the other tracks, it very quickly devolves into festival quarter-note briddim. However, the final drop is actually really unique, even if the track then ends abruptly - I do find myself wishing both drops had been what the second drop was.
do the thing [Heavy] | (/100)
More festival briddim. This one sounds like it would go off live, but at this point the album is running out of things to say. With largely the same synth runs between the drops, and the same synth outbursts during the drops, TYNAN does indeed "do the thing" again.
bow2 [Heavy] | (/100)
w/ High Zombie
"bow2" claims to be respectful moshpit music, but after a minute of solid buildup work it plummets into the nastiest drop on this record. The track stomps and crashes everywhere, threatening between its quarter-note flow and abrasive complementing sound design - though, again, this rhythm has already gotten repetitive.
shinespark [Standout] | (/100)
A more hopeful twinge to the synths still leads to the same dubstep, but it's delivered in a much longer song (well, 4 minutes, which says more about the rest of the record, I think). It means that the second drop is kind of nuts, and a lot of atmosphere work is done to good effect, including the tangent at the end with a style that harks back to "coat check".
remembering how to live [Laid-back] | (/100)
TYNAN chooses to close off this record with a simplistic, bright melodic house cut. The main synth lead is very similar sound-design-wise to the one used between the dubstep stomps of previous songs, but repurposed to guide this finale to a satisfying finish. It provides closure, but does drag on a little.
- his name is (/100)
- shinespark (/100)
- world suck w/ Daemon (/100)
- home w/ Dani King (/100)
- smoke break (/100)
- bow2 w/ High Zombie (/100)
- remembering how to live (/100)
- bum rush w/ Space Wizard (/100)
- cracked (/100)
- coat check (/100)
- on fire w/ Kompany (/100)
- mail w/ sfam (/100)
- on the beat (/100)
- groovininininin w/ Izadi (/100)
- do the thing (/100)