There is a strange juxtaposition that lies at the heart of Atlas Fell’s music in general, and Chartalist in particular. On the one hand the beats and drive are punchy and vibrant, creating an upbeat mood and a groovesome vibe, on the other there is so much space in the track that sits above them that it comes across as chilled, purposefully laidback and almost lazy. And then you throw in vocals which carry the ethereal qualities of a classical delivery and you have something a bit special. It means that it manages to sit in two worlds, both as a minimalist dance floor track all sultry groove and hypnotic, skittering hook lines and as an after club, early hours, chill out, future classic.
The charm is that Atlas Fell know where their most effective sonic bench mark is and even stopped short of that, allowing space and atmosphere to fill in the gaps between the beats and bars as instruments in their own right. Whereas most musicians would have piled on the layers of synth, doubled up the pace of the beat and overloaded the song, they are instead masters of musical understatement. The result is an elegant, intriguing, wonderfully clean-limbed and totally original dance track that fits into the club night at any point from that first drink of the evening to the après-club, after party wind down. Clever, very clever.
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