Browsing Tag

electronica

Timothy and the Apocalypse took his listeners to alt-electro ‘Nirvana’ with his latest release

Posted on 15 September 2023

The Australian alt-electronica augmenter Timothy and the Apocalypse took his sound to new celestial heights with the release of his latest single, Nirvana; the merit of it is almost enough to dissipate the synonymousness between Kurt Cobain and the track title.

With the opening vocals resounding with a spiritually ceremonial timbre across the lush layers of reverb, the artist and producer set the bar transcendently high from the intro, and still managed to rise above it with the shoegazey dream-pop guitars which bring introduce the solid backbeat that affixes a strong gravitational pull to the ever-ascending melodic lines.

Midway through the track comes a euphoric uplift, which defies all expectations of Timothy and the Apocalypse. Since 2021, he’s held dominion over the ambient trip-hop scene and dominated the associated playlists. With Nirvana, he broke new ground by progressing his new release into a track that could fill a floor and rhythmically drive it into fervour. Amalgams of IDM and deep house don’t come much more electrifying than this.

Stream Nirvana and the THOLEMOD Remix, which hit the airwaves on September 8th via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Goshok explored the pleasure-pain parallel in his visceral EDM single, Reach You, ft Otto Palmborg

Posted on 3 September 2023

For his latest single, Reach You, the independent Czech music producer, DJ, and songwriter Goshok teamed up with Otto Palmborg to reach the pinnacle of electronica fervour.

Ironically, we couldn’t get his last single, On My Mind, off ours; if Reach You is anything to go by, his talents in infusing his momentous Kygo-inspired tracks with visceral emotions have become superlatively honed. Once you hit play, you’ll be immersed in a bitter-sweet hit that errs on the side of affectionate rapture. If you know how it feels to be caught in the middle of a relationship that forces you to explore the pleasure-pain parallel, the resonance in Reach You will be phenomenal.

By pulling in elements from across the EDM spectrum to enliven his tropical house edge and augment his pop hooks until they’re ensnaringly sharp, Goshok created a hit that could facilitate his dream to become the first producer from Czechia to feature on the line-ups at Tomorrowland, Coachella, and Balaton Sound.

Reach You hit the airwaves on August 25; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Gee Beanie spoke in fluent ‘Body Language’ in his Reggaetronic debut single.

Posted on 2 September 2023

The pan-African singer-songwriter Gee Beanie sent the sensuality in the EDM genre through the roof with his cultural tapestry of a Reggaetronic debut single, Body Language, which dropped on August 25.

With his soulfully smooth vocal lines adding a sultry veneer over kicking and vibrant house-meets-afro-pop beats that bolster the intricate indie staccato melodies, Body Language is intoxicating and arrests the rhythmic pulses as well as a track with such a title should.

His ability to infuse his laid-back attitude into an exhilarating yet intimately enticing production that could enliven any dancefloor is sure to seal his successful fate in the industry.

It isn’t every day that an artist who can revolutionise a genre comes around. Save a spot on your radar for the pioneering song crafter; we have no doubts that even bigger beats are in the pipeline, especially with the promise of his debut LP, Be My Alibi?, which will be released in Spring 2024.

Stream Body Language on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Zach Haselow brought purity to passion in his synth-pop hit, Rent Free

Posted on 1 September 2023

Get hooked on the reverb-heavy retrowave synth lines in the latest electro-pop hit, Rent Free, from the Alaskan icon in the making, Zach Haselow.

With a soundscape that finds the middle ground between the Weeknd and the Midnight, it is all too easy to get into the lush electronic grooves of Rent Free, which soulfully pays homage to the phenomenon of all-consuming romantic obsession while traversing the insecurities that desire can forcibly manifest.

The humbly sweet hit couldn’t be purer in its passion or more polished in its production; the melodies seem to effervesce around the funk-dripping basslines that will arrest your rhythmic pulses and refuse to let go until long after the fadeout. After spending over a decade perfecting the art of songwriting and producing, Zach Haselow has achieved a sonic signature that is as honed as it is distinctive.

Rent Free made its debut on August 18th; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Wrap yourself up in nasir mf.’s latest exhilaratingly illusory single, twine

Posted on 31 August 2023

After contorting genres to his creative whim and distorting soundscapes beyond previously conceived limits while still maintaining exhilarating earworm appeal, the Brooklyn-based independent artist and DJ, nasir mf., arrived at the epiphany that music is as boundless as the artist orchestrating it. His latest single, twine, is the ultimate manifestation of his limitlessness.

By evading the hallmarks of the perfect pop track and arriving at a far more decadently illusory sonic place via his experimentalism, nasir mf. created a portal of hyper-surreal escapism with twine. The chiptune-EDM-pop amalgam twists with every progressive turn to ensure your senses are electrifyingly heightened while you’re experiencing the ambient melodicism evolve into hardstyle momentum.

This is far from the first time we’ve found ourselves obsessed about the Brooklyn icon’s ingenuity, and something tells us he’s got plenty left in the tank to arrest us with.

twine hit the airwaves on August 22; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jazz meets chiptune in Samuel Weaver’s latest score, Saviour Complex

Posted on 28 August 2023

With touches of House of Fun by the Madness grooving through the polyphonic funk of the jazz & chiptune amalgam, the UK-based artist Samuel Weaver concocted a superfluously ingenuity-driven score for the standout single in his debut album, Telechora!

Hitting play on Saviour Complex may be moderately akin to an acid trip due to the artist’s tendency to delve into sonic novelty despite his discernible composition and instrumental talents, but the euphoria-instilled vibrancy of the soundscape will lift you higher than any tab of acid ever could.

Given that intellectualism oozes from every progression, especially when the dissonance of sufferers with saviour complexes starts to manifest in the funk, at 17 years old, the composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist has the music industry at his prodigal feet.

Saviour Complex charged in on its white knight syndrome on August 19th; hear it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Manchester-based producer Tao Mitsu liberated his listeners with his transcendent mix, Just Let Go.

Posted on 20 August 2023

With textures and melodic progressions that go beyond immersive to offer aural escapism, when you’re enmeshed with the pulsating rhythms in the latest instrumental mix, Just Let Go, from the Manchester-based producer Tao Mitsu, space and time may as well cease to exist.

By starting with emotional impulses and constructing musical landscapes around them, each creation of Tao Mitsu is an evocative trip tinged with the full spectrum of human emotion rather than just riding euphoric waves. The fragments of melancholy within the groove and bass-driven ambient techno beats in Just Let Go capture the bittersweetness of loneliness, encompassing the primal pain of heartbreak and the first teasings of hope that appear on the periphery.

Just Let Go may not carry the definitive Manchester sound, but with the cover art depicting one of the cosy corners of the iconic Night & Day Café, Tao Mitsu succeeded in paying homage to the vibrant and eclectic music scene via his nostalgia-driven, transcendently liberating leftfield electronica anthem.

Just Let Go reached the airwaves on August 13th; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: AMRIX has launched his EDM track that will follow you into the dark, ‘Don’t Be Afraid’

Posted on 14 August 2023

The Perth-hailing EDM artist & producer AMRIX gave a Grammy-worthy performance in his debut single, Don’t Be Afraid, which carries all the intimately compassionate soul of I Will Follow You Into The Dark by Death Cab for Cutie on the smoothed-out-with-reverb synth lines which build into one of the most heartfelt crescendos you’re likely to ever to hear.

The tenderly mid-tempo hit amasses evocative visceralism around the builds and breaks in a similar vein to Avicii’s emotion-driven singles; AMRIX has what it takes to leave as much of a mark on the industry with his songwriting stripes that can drive you to the brink of tears while constructing a sanctuary to slip into when dark clouds permeate your perspective.

Collaborating with lyricist Matt Miller, a guest vocalist, and Ruben Castro, who mixed and mastered the self-produced release, the genre fusionist achieved his goal of creating timelessly impactful music that resonates with listeners on a deep emotional level.

While other EDM artists are busying themselves releasing trite high-vibe summer hits that do little more than contribute to unrealistic expectations of a utopic season, AMRIX is cutting right to the core of sincerity with his elevated discography; I know which kind of artist I will be putting on my radar for future installations of resonant euphonic compassion.

In his own words, here’s what AMRIX had to say on his first installation of electro RnB-Pop:

“Don’t Be Afraid is inspired by personal experiences and the universal struggle of developing trust in relationships. It explores the vulnerability and strength required to open up to another person fully.”

Don’t Be Afraid hit the airwaves on July 28; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

PonyArt has unveiled his Avant-Garde IDM installation of sonic maleficence, Novum Stutter Sd

Posted on 14 August 2023

The artwork for PonyArt’s debut LP, Redundancy, which landed on August 3rd, is creepier than any scene in The Last of Us; when you open the sonic door to it by delving into the first single, Novum Stutter Sd, you’ll instantly note the sound designer and composer’s ability to sonically visualise the macabre into maleficent melodic soundscapes.

While I never thought I would use Otto Von Schirach and Glenn Branca references in the same review, PonyArt necessitated it with his Avant-Garde installation of IDM, which came into fruition when the composer, who day walks by the name of Joe Sheldrick, decided to orchestrate an expression of pure creative freedom and escapism from genres or expectations.

While there are visceral moments of phantasmally cacophonous etherealism, the LP, which was put out through Dachshund Records, is underpinned by melodic accessibility.

Stream the Redundancy LP on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Softmax connects through disjointed isolation in her Lynchian installation of electronica, Swishers

Posted on 9 August 2023
Softmax

Silence fell after the 2022 debut EP, But What If There Isn’t?, from the Chicago-native Softmax; in her time away from the airwaves, she honed her craft and primed herself for her latest single, Swishers.

Co-produced by Joel Ford, of How to Dress Well fame, and Berlin’s premier electronica producer, Gabriel Gifford, Swishers sets a dramatically Lynchian tone to create a dystopian synthpop backdrop for the portrayal of inwardly imploding isolation while everyone falsifies their lives online.

The sentiment is just as resonant as the score orchestrated to depict the agonisingly disjointing feelings. Clearly, Softmax has a talent for reflecting the rawest facets of the human experience back at us. The syncopated beats and oscillating synths paint a portrait of how it feels when black holes of alienation form as a fixture in the arrangement of your bedroom furniture.

In her own words: “It’s about wanting to connect with the world and understand people while feeling further and further from it,”

Swishers will hit the airwaves on August 9th as a courtesy of the London-based indie record label, Psychotic Reaction Music. Stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast