The track titles on Anja Schneider’s new EP—"Loop de Mer” and “Belize"—reflect that. And the music backs it up: these two tracks—heady, trippy, eyes and ears blown wide by impossible contours and unknown pleasures—are all about escape, however fleeting.With her Mobilee label enjoying unprecedented success, and with a handful of her own singles for the label under her belt, Anja spent the past year traveling and gigging the world over. She took a break from her own productions, collected experiences. And back in Berlin, she began trying out new approaches with different musicians and producers.This release represents her first co-production with Paul Brtschitsch. In keeping with her previous work, both tracks are dark, sultry and more than a little eerie. Energy ripples beneath the surface and contrasyncopations build into a furious tidal swell; hissing ride cymbals cut through the murk like a flash of shark fins. There’s no release, no clichéd payoff: nothing to do but keep moving.Lighter in spirit, “Belize” remains just as straightforward, both in terms of structure and sonics.(Both cuts are refreshingly free of plug-in clutter and excessive FX.) Here we have a nimble, shuffling house skip and an irresistible melody that swirls like dandelion tufts on the last days of summer, punctuated by emphatic toms. It’s as delicate as breath—and yet somehow impossibly heavy as well, as heavy as the knowledge that all vacations must come to an end. When those strings come gliding in, it’s impossible not to think of “Rancho Relaxo“, as all your cares go drifting out towards the horizon on a glassy, blue-green tide.