Northern Exposure: Mathemagic, 'Breaststroke' -- Free MP3

Canadians seem to have a thing for the icy-cool ambience of downtempo electro with a decidedly melodic edge -- think early Caribou, Junior Boys, or newer acts like CFCF. Add Guelph duo Mathemagic to the list, though they're swimming in the rising tide of the blissfully hazy 'chillwave' scene rather than aiming their tracks for the dancefloor (more like the comedown afterwards).

Brothers Evan and Dylan Euteneier were originally working on separate projects before joining forces as Mathemagic to produce their warm, seductive take on sun-bleached electro that draws inspiration from both the past (Beach Boys-style layered harmonies) and the present (evoking contemporaries like Washed Out, Friend, and Toro Y Moi).

Even before releasing their debut five-track EP last week, Mathemagic had gone from a brand-new, completely unknown act to blog darlings based on the strength of a few key tracks alone.

Luckily, there's much to recommend in the pair's dreamy sound -- while fans of the current crop of chillwave acts wouldn't be remiss in adding Mathemagic to their playlists, the duo still manages to put their own stamp on the genre with addictive tracks like 'Breaststroke'.

Reverb-drenched vocals that sound like they were recorded in a silo swirl around a backdrop of blips and bleeps that weave in and out of the mix like tiny stars blinking through an inky sky, while the the clean production allows every little shudder-and-snap nuance of the handclap beat to cut through the gauzy melody. The track is more than aptly named -- evoking, as it does, the smooth yet insistent lapping of water swishing by.

If that soft-focus template sounds rather similar to another brand-new, über-hyped duo from Guelph, Ont., don't worry, you're not confused -- in fact, fellow chillwavers Memoryhouse, who indeed come from the same school of nu-gaze, have put their own spin on 'Breaststroke' with a remix that teases out the more percussive elements of the tune.

Whether listeners' flirtation with chillwave fizzles out like a summer romance or sticks around with each subsequent newcomer remains to be seen, but tracks like 'Breaststroke' come off as so fully realized that it suggests Mathemagic's full-length will certainly be something to look forward to when it drops on Paper Bag Records later this year.