Browsing Tag

Instrumental Electronica

Def Ember synthesised the future into retro melodies in their expansively fusionistic track, Quiddity

Def Ember’s latest seminal release, ‘Quiddity‘, from their double A-side single established the aural alchemist as a forerunner of genre-obliterating innovation. Released on January 26th, this track is a bold venture into unchartered melodic waters. Known for their genre-fluid approach, the Los Angeles-based artist ensured ‘Quiddity’ stands out with its warm meandering rhythms that guide listeners through a serenely dynamic soundscape.

The track skillfully balances a solid, kicking backbeat with mellifluous synth lines and soulfully arresting guitar licks, creating a mesmerising contrast that you can lose yourself in time after time without any of the magic in the polished production getting lost. While the synths bring a touch of nostalgia, the other layers in this smorgasbord of style push the release into the future.

The layered synthetics add depth and complexity without overwhelming the rhythmic pulses, thanks to the track’s meticulous construction and sci-fi-esque ambience. It’s a track that doesn’t just play to the ears but engages the soul, marking an exciting chapter in the artist’s evolving musical journey.

Stream the latest release from Def Ember on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Gaze into the entropy abyss with the catharsis in Static Null’s latest downtempo release, Void

The prolifically playlisted alt-electronica artist Static Null drenched the airwaves in downtempo catharsis with their latest scintillatingly textured instrumental soundscape, Void.

Voids typically are synonymous with abyss-like phenomena, but there’s plenty of sonic salvation to be found in the artfully composed single, which allows the darker proponents to cast a shadow over the splinters of light to reflect the complexity of the human experience.

If we never acknowledged the redeeming qualities of our mortal coil, we would never mourn their absence while caught in voids, which mostly happen to be of our own making. Static Null’s latest synthesised orchestration is a demonstration of all that and more. Losing yourself within it’s tender warmth is wholly recommended.

Void was officially released on March 23. Hear it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

SnoZ – Night: The Superlative Twilight Trap Lullaby

Like a twisted lullaby, the concluding single, Night, on the 3-track single from electronica artist and producer, SnoZ, which also melodically flows through Morning and Afternoon, is a trappy instrumental feat of beguile that deserves residence on your ambient and downtempo playlists. If any track is going to enter the sandman, it is Night. Sorry, Metallica.

SnoZ has been involved with the music industry since the early 2000s, experimenting with various genres along the way. In 2016, he exclusively got into bed with instrumental electronica production, and it’s easy to see why after listening to Night. They know just how to set a scintillating tone and capture emotion with their beats.

Night is available to stream on Spotify. For more info on SnoZ, check out their website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dooplex proves that patience is a virtue with his exploratively eclectic electronica release, It Will Click

When he’s not composing film scores for shorts and feature films, the independent eclectic electronica artist and producer Dooplex is lacing the airwaves with Cubase 12-crafted soundscapes. His latest single, It Will Click, delivers the instrumental affirmation that happiness isn’t something to be chased; it comes to those who know that patience is a virtue.

What starts as an ambient tentative meander breaks into a breakbeat exploration, guided by tropic percussion that is sure to leave serotonin firing between your synapses. The short and sweet release follows his hit remix of Stay Alive, which amassed Dooplex 230,000 streams on SoundCloud alone. On the basis of It Will Click alone, future viral fame is undoubtedly in the artist’s future again.

It Will Click is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Rob Benny is ‘Still Searching’ for meaning in his percussive EDM single.

https://soundcloud.com/robbennyofficial/still-searching?si=fa05a6ab2e2848eba1350edc0968e23c&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

I’m not a big advocate of the adjective epic, but nothing else comes to close to encapsulating what the NYC electronica artist and producer Rob Benny conjured with his percussive EDM single, Still Searching.

With the world music overtones, there is a vital sense of spirituality in the progressive mix. Given that there is a fundamental lack of that around in 2022, Still Searching is a revitalising sensory experience, which affirms that even in the most trying times, there is still meaning and purpose out there; you just have to reach for it. Even though we are instant gratification-seeking creatures, meaning takes time to manifest. I couldn’t think of a better soundscape to drink in while we wait.

Still Searching is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Nocturnal Omissions – Local Customs: Meet Your New Experimental Escapist Playlist Staple

Pareidolia by Nocturnal Omissions

After the infinitely experimental alt-electronica artist Nocturnal Omissions invited us into the sanctity of his 2021 album, Tempus Destinatum, we’ve been hoping to see a return of his cinematic blends of post-rock, synthwave and chillwave.

The standout single, Local Customs, from his 2022 album, Pareidolia, is quite the departure from the last time we heard the one-man production machine, but a welcome reprieve from the soul-less electronica that floods the internet. The spacey meandering synths kaleidoscopically drift through the soundscape until the first crashing crescendo that lets you know just how immersed you are by pulling you through the tumultuous shift before the ambience creeps back, albeit briefly before another hammering blow of a breakdown.

Alchemic creativity and confidence in autonomy aside, any artist with the humility to describe themselves as perpetually emerging is an artist you should have on your radar.

You can check out Nocturnal Omissions’ album Pareidolia via Apple Music & Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Get a taste of tranquillity with Steve Nicosia’s latest ambient electronica single, Cotton Candy Sky.

Toronto-based ambient electronica artist Steve Nicosia has released his latest cinematically transcendent single, Cotton Candy Sky, which immortalises the sunset that inspired the tranquil melodies.

The accordant guitars cutting around the melodic chiptune beats ensures that Cotton Candy Sky possesses enough momentum to pull you through the progressions and keep you engaged with the rhythmic ambling of the instrumentals. It is a rarity that we can call instrumental electronica soundscapes soulful, but in Cotton Candy Sky, the energy and emotion of awe at natural beauty truly resonate. Nicosia weaves soft, colourful hues throughout the delicately tropic single; to resounding effect.

With plenty more releases planned, Nicosia, who made his debut with the release of his EP, Retrospective, in October 2020, is undoubtedly one to watch.

Check out Steve Nicosia on Spotify, YouTube, Bandcamp, Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alex Bright defies convention with his symphonically visceral electronica album ‘Building’.

Alex Bright

Bristol-based artist and producer Alex Bright is set to release his album, Building, which obliterates the notion of genre and introduces the lister to pure uninhibited electronically-crafted expression.

From neo-classic increments to symphonically cinematic scores complemented with pulsing bass to experimentation with elements of nature; you will find it all on the absorbing 7-track release. Alex Bright isn’t afraid to paint across the tonal spectrum, mischievously throwing together light and dark textures to create stunning sense of utopic/dystopic duality.

With such scarcity of reminiscence,  eclecticism of style and veracity of emotion, Alex Bright’s sound expresses what words cannot, making my job impossibly hard but gratifying all the same. Discovering exceptional producers who defy convention and can still speak to you on a primal level don’t crop up every day.

You can check out Alex Bright on his YouTube Channel and by heading over to Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

DOLLSDONTCRY – ‘Manticore’: A harsh, dystopian future writ purely in sound

Leaving aside the obvious mentioning that dolls sometimes DO cry – Tiny Tears, anyone? – DOLLSDONTCRY, from Lucedale, Mississippi, via Alaska, has created a nightmarish soundscape of grinding, driving instrumentalism in the vein of early Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, or Revco music. Think a little ‘Pretty Hate Machine’, ‘Psalm 69’, or ‘Linger Ficken Good’, without vocals, and you’ve a pretty good idea of what’s on offer here. Opening with some heavily distorted bass riffing, it’s a landscape of bleeps, machine-press crashes, sampled roars, and rising sequenced keyboard parts.

It’s always difficult for young artists to make their voices heard effectively with instrumental work, but this is an excellent track, a harsh, metallic, post-Terminator world of sound, evocative and stimulating, with a definite voice.

You can hear ‘Manticore’ on Soundcloud. Follow DOLLSDONTCRY on Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Dust has delivered an electronica mix as dark and dystopic as 2020 with ‘Bravado’

Dust is the latest moniker for Richmond, VA-based artist and professional drummer, Chris Farmer, after sharing stages with the likes of Fishbone and Hootie & the Blowfish, his talent turned to producing heavy, bass-riding electronica which showcases his rhythmic precision and ability to entrance though mind-melting layers of insurgently powerful electronica.

Their latest release is the highly-anticipated 4-track EP ‘Bravado’. The best introduction to Dust’s domineering instrumental Alt Electronica is undoubtedly the title single. With some hints of And One-era Industrial within the monolithic drum n bass mix, it’s as dark and dystopic as 2020 and far more entrancing through the producer’s rhythmic command which allows his sound to boast psytrance style danceability.

You’ll have to wait a little longer before you can check out Bravado for yourselves. In the meantime, head over to Spotify where you’ll be able to check out their previous releases.

Review by Amelia Vandergast