Sydney’s biggest indie dance group made a standout appearance at Burning Man this year. Performing on top of the Robot Heart bus in the Black Rock desert, the trio proved why they are one of Australia’s best artists. Robot Heart has released that set online, with a brief intro from Rufus’ Jon George explaining the influence of the iconic desert sunset on their music. After the cancellation of Lost Paradise, where Rufus was headlining, this set is the perfect consolation prize for disappointed fans.

One of the most striking features of the mix, which fans of Rufus will notice, is how it takes Rufus’ fantastic and established sound, but twists it to fit the Burning Man aesthetic. Early in the set, Rufus establishes wide soundscapes with bright, booming synths and reverb heavy vocals. These high ends create the same airy space as the synths on tracks like “You Were Right” and “Innerbloom”, the latter of which was directly inspired by their time at the Burning Man festival. With light rhythmic elements, like the gentle high hats, woody cowbells and soft snare, the music is danceable but relaxed. In the low end, they’ve used some bass drones for melodic effect and a background sub to create a pulse. However, the low bass is never the focal point of the music. As a result, this set retains Rufus’ familiar indie dance style. However, tracks are long and transitions are subtle, with the hour and a half mix employing some genre features that perfectly ground it in the Burning Man sound. The majority of songs are subtle with repeated beats that have delicate and still guitars or slow rolling basslines. This has the effect of taking the mix out of Rufus’ house/EDM stylings and towards soft techno or psytrance, which perfectly suits the festival.

The Burning Man set, and the recently released mix, will be familiar to Rufus fans, but unique enough to sound interesting. It contains all the strengths of this internationally recognised group, but with a distinct ambience that takes the listener out into the Black Rock desert for a festival induced trance.

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