The track brings together an intriguing cast: California vocalist Cheshy, whose sensual contributions add texture to the proceedings, and returning collaborator Gimpado, whose sub-vocal work provides additional rhythmic momentum. Yet the true star remains Senior Dunce himself—a figure whose moniker betrays both wit and vulnerability, whose biography reads like a bildungsroman scored to kick drums.
What emerges is dance music with genuine philosophical weight. The production gleams with professional polish whilst deliberately retaining the rough edges that speak to its creator's central thesis. Senior Dunce has spent decades in Seoul's underground—sound designer, producer, educator, club proprietor—accumulating the technical prowess evident in every precisely placed synth stab and carefully calibrated bassline throb. Yet "Bestial" succeeds not through technical perfection but through its willingness to embrace imperfection as liberation.
The lyrical content proves refreshingly honest, acknowledging humanity's capacity for cruelty whilst refusing to wallow in self-flagellation. Instead, Senior Dunce proposes radical acceptance: we are animals, flawed and occasionally brutal, and perhaps our salvation lies not in denial but in dancing with these darker impulses. It's a message that resonates particularly from an artist whose own journey—from bullied outsider to self-proclaimed "eccentric figure"—mirrors the track's themes of transformation through self-acceptance.
The production itself embodies this philosophy. Where lesser house tracks might smooth over contradictions, "Bestial" revels in them. Polished elements rub against deliberately rougher textures; euphoric builds collapse into introspective breakdowns; the relentless forward momentum of house music carries lyrics that encourage backward glances at our primitive selves. It's sophisticated primitivism—if such a thing can exist.
Senior Dunce's background as someone who "denied these instincts during childhood, suppressing his artistic freedom" lends particular poignancy to the track's message. "Bestial" feels like the sound of someone finally exhaling after decades of holding their breath, of artistic repression giving way to creative honesty. The result is that rarest of things: dance music that thinks as deeply as it makes you move.
What distinguishes "Bestial" from contemporary house music's often vapid offerings is its genuine engagement with weighty themes whilst never forgetting that profundity means nothing if bodies aren't moving. Senior Dunce has crafted something that functions equally well in the club and the headphones—infectious enough for peak-time deployment yet substantial enough to reward closer listening.
For an artist emerging onto the international stage relatively late, "Bestial" represents a remarkably assured statement. It suggests Senior Dunce possesses both the technical mastery and philosophical curiosity to carve out unique territory within electronic music's increasingly homogeneous landscape. His message—that liberation comes through embracing rather than transcending our flaws—feels particularly relevant for our perfectionist-obsessed times.
"Bestial" succeeds because it trusts its audience's intelligence whilst never losing sight of dance music's fundamental purpose: to move bodies and, occasionally, souls. The track offers no easy answers, only the suggestion that perhaps the questions themselves—delivered via irresistible groove—might be enough. Senior Dunce has created something genuinely distinctive: house music that refuses to apologise for either its intellectual ambitions or its primal urges. Both instincts, after all, are equally human.