There has been a hole in the Chicago music scene for the last several years in just about the exact shape of Tevo Howard. It’s an absence, and it’s not one that can be easily filled. Tevo was one of our most brilliant electronic music producers to emerge in the late ’00s with a burst of releases. He began to properly release his tracks relatively later in life than most new producers, and a flood of music on wax and on digital followed over the following decade, as if he was making up for lost time. Aside from records on his Beautiful Granville and Tevo Howard Recordings — home base — he released music ranging from a live/electronic hybrid called “Ruby,” the PolyRhythmic album with Kate Simko and “Without Me” featuring vocalist Tracey Thorn from Everything But The Girl. There are very few producers that you want to know — whose discography you want to follow, track by track, backwards into time. Tevo is one of those producers whose catalog demands fanatical scrutiny. That, at least, will never change.
Tevo’s output didn’t so much slow down as halt altogether, until this track “As We Are,” appeared out of nowhere at the end of April 2024. The liner notes were half cut-and-paste from past releases with an additional note that “As We Are” is “a song produced by Tevo Howard originally written for the singer of the band Hot Chip.” I reached out to Tevo some time before this and never heard back, so I interpret that as an intention to let the music speak for itself.
This track is a dirge, head-nodding and eyes-closed, lifted at regular intervals by a synth melody so light it seems to float on a puff of air. Tevo has authored a sound for tracks like these that I really love — something like the coldness of computer music and Kosmische Musik, still frozen but thawing. That process of thawing is in the music. “As We Are” is immersed in that tone, unique as a fingerprint.
⚪️ As We Are Tracklisting
Tevo Howard: As We Are (Instrumental) (Tevo Howard Recordings / Digital)
1. As We Are (Instrumental) (5:44)
⚪️ Disclosure Statement
This record was not submitted as a promo.
⚪️ Previous Coverage
✳️ New Music: Tevo Howard Pays Tribute to the Late Rick “Poppa” Howard (2019)
🎧 Mixes: Tevo Howard (Live): 5 Magazine’s New Mix Monday #163 (2013)
❇️ New Music: Tevo Howard: The 5 Magazine Interview (2011)
❇️ Features: Sequences: The World According to Tevo Howard (2015)
✳️ New Music: Kate Simko & Tevo Howard Team Up for a New Album (2015)
5 Mag Issue 215
Out August 2024
NEW FUTURISM: This was originally published in 5 Mag Issue #215 featuring Rick Wade on AI, art and the future of making music, Tilman, James Chance, Chicago house history, Cajmere and more. Become a member for $2/month and get every issue in your inbox right away!
Don't Stay In 
Get on our guest list for news from 5 Mag and you'll never miss a thing. It's free and we don't sell your shit. 
[…] 🔴 Music Reviews 215. Your home for longform reviews of new and reissued dance music tracks from Joseph Malik ft Digital Liquid: Only Fans Remixes (F*CLR), Wallace: Tanzanite (On Loop), Dennis Quin: Treat You Right (PIV), Session Victim: Screen Off (Delusions of Grandeur), Void Complet: Their Idea Of Fun (Chobu), DimSum: Stars In Your Eyes (My Cup of Tea), Manakinz (Model Citizens), Blaze: Lovelee Dae (Seth Troxler & Franck Roger Remixes) (Slip N Slide), Brisa with Jon Dixon and Byron The Aquarius: Stir (Cosmocities), Jordan Gardner and Martyn Bootyspoon: Doubletap (Outlier), System of Survival (Fventi), Suburban Knight (Detroit Techno), Lay-Far (In-Beat-Ween), Glo Phase, Jon Delerious (Nordic Trax), Crooked Man (Vicious Charm) and Tevo Howard: As We Are. […]