Paul St. Hilaire: The Voice of Dub Techno Takes the Lead

Sooner or later, anyone who falls for dub techno encounters the unmistakable, weightless tenor of Paul St. Hilaire. His voice—elastic, smoky, and unhurried—threads through many of the genre’s most enduring records, from his early work with Basic Channel’s Mark Ernestus and Moritz von Oswald to his soaring turn on Intrusion’s 2009 classic The Seduction of Silence. Like many figures in dub techno, a scene built on mystery and minimalism, St. Hilaire—born in Dominica and long based in Berlin—has tended to downplay his influence. “I prefer to say a little ting and stay out of the light,” he told Resident Advisor’s Richard Akingbehin in 2021. But since befriending Akingbehin and joining his Kynant label, he’s begun to embrace his legacy as one of the sound’s foundational voices.

His 2023 release Tikiman Vol. 1 spotlighted his production abilities, proving that he could conjure vast, vaporous soundscapes equal to any of the producers he once fronted. The follow-up, w/ the Producers, reverses the dynamic, placing St. Hilaire’s voice at the center while inviting a diverse lineup of collaborators—dubstep innovator Mala, Equiknoxx’s dancehall experimentalist Gavsborg, Tunisian-French sound sculptor Azu Tiwaline, and more—to shape the backdrop. The only figure from dub techno’s first wave to appear is Japan’s Shinichi Atobe, who twists St. Hilaire’s vocals into spectral vocoder echoes on “Time to Wake Up.”

This time, the record feels rougher, more unpredictable than its predecessor. St. Hilaire channels a mood closer to “death disco” than classic dub techno—dark, urgent, and alive. Mala’s “Like It’s Always Been” opens the album with a corroded, lurching rhythm that moves like a wounded machine learning to walk again. On “What’s This,” produced with Russell E.L. Butler, bursts of static punctuate the mix, evoking the anxious glow of late-night news cycles. Priori’s “Send Them On” begins as a callback to St. Hilaire’s Rhythm & Sound track “Jah Rule” but mutates into something fiercer and stranger, as the drums quicken and the chords bruise into deep purple tones.

The album title nods to w/ the artists, Rhythm & Sound’s seminal 2003 collaboration with St. Hilaire and other vocalists of Caribbean descent—a cornerstone release that subtly wrestled with dub techno’s racial dynamics. That record foregrounded Black voices but was still steered by its white German producers. Two decades later, w/ the Producers turns the perspective inside out. St. Hilaire stands firmly at the helm, guiding a global cast of beatmakers through his own vision of dub’s evolution. “The train is high,” he sings on “Back Inna Business” with Cousin. It might also be heard as “the train is I”—a fitting phrase for an artist who, after decades of collaboration, finally claims full command of his journey.