Browsing Tag

trip-hop

Meet The Future of Electronica: Geoffrey Toussaint – Sun & Stars

Posted on 5 May 2022
Geoffrey Toussaint

After spending the last few years trying to find his sound, the 22-year-old indie electronica artist, Geoffrey Toussaint now has a sonic signature well-worth flaunting. Especially if his trip hoppy alchemically modernist track, Sun & Stars, is anything to go by.

The Washington DC-based artist takes inspiration from Porter Robinson, SOPHIE and Ramzoid, but with the robustness of new wave hip hop and the visceral gravity that flows through his hyper-pop proclivities, Sun & Stars is anything but a feat of assimilation. Through the oscillating reverb laced around the robust percussion and deep throbbing basslines, it is as cathartic as it is innately exhilarating.

Sun & Stars will officially release on May 20th; you can check it out for yourselves here.

Keep up to date with new releases from Geoffrey Toussaint via Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Melodic bass meets noise pop in Heasuence’s latest experimental electro single, I Find

Posted on 4 May 2022

Melodic bass artists and producer, Heasuence has unleashed their evocatively charged trip-hop-tinged single, I Find. Despite the lo-fi production, it’s an artfully expressive electronica triumph. When the bass hits, I Find evolves from a melodiously downtempo and almost meditative sonic landscape with elevated indie-pop vocals into a monolithic cage of volatile turbulence.

The avant-garde and emotionally reflective elements certainly weren’t lost on us. It does what so tracks fail to do and brings you right into the artist’s psyche. And perhaps more importantly, in our commodified aural reality, it leaves an unforgettable mark on your consciousness with the ethereal versing of lyrics “I find peace in mystery” before the bass tears the track to asunder.

I Find is now available on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Night Movies got orbital in their cinematic downtempo trip-hop instrumental, Once Around the Sun

Posted on 15 April 2022

Once Around the Sun is an orbital teaser of what’s to come from the highly anticipated album from the UK alt-electro collective, Night Movies. The instrumental downtempo trip-hop track flirts with the brashier tones of trap while the moody yet dreamy cinematic production ensures that your trip around the sun is a cathartically immersive one.

The competition in the electronica field may be fierce but Night Movies, with their dystopically transcendent dark teeth and stellar line up of contributing artists have exactly what it takes to leave an impression.

Once Around the Sun will be available to stream from April 15th worldwide. The album which it was taken from, Dreamish, will be available from August 5th. Check out Night Movies via SoundCloud. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Bearbot break free in their latest electro-pop single, Loose Leash

Posted on 18 March 2022

The New York electro-pop singer & producer duo, Bearbot is set to unleash their first EP as a reformed outfit. After producing five albums and touring through NYC’s most notorious clubs’ solo, Euna Kho brought onboard Ariana Moline. Based on the standout single from the Canis EP, Loose Leash, her glossy pop vocals were the perfect fit for the cathartic sonic bliss that is curated into arresting hip hop tinted grooving hooks and transcending melodies.

It was a bold and risky move to sample dog barks in with the 80s synthy notes, Thriller-Esque beats and Ariana’s airy yet ardent timbre, but it paid off massively by bringing a new context to this freedom advocating hit.

Loose Leash will officially release on March 18th; you can check it out for yourselves on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Case Watson spins a phantasmal fairy-tale in her folky art-pop single, Hollow Tree

Posted on 17 March 2022

In her latest single, Hollow Tree, the ethereal art-pop artist Case Watson, well and truly came into her alchemic stride. With cinematic electronic obscurity nestled against folkish mysticism and a few caustically volatile elements thrown in for good measure, Hollow Tree moves beyond an aural experience. Its arcane air sets your imagination alight and tears you away from realism in the process.

If you could imagine what it would sound like if Emilie Autumn opted for nuance instead of archaic hysteria, you will get a good idea of the phantasmal bliss found in this darkly electrifying lyrical fairy-tale. We’re officially obsessed.

Hollow Tree is now available to stream on Spotify. Or head over to Case Watson’s official website for more info.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Isaiah Sweh stays ambiently humble in his 2022 EP, Far from Perfect

Posted on 16 March 2022

Isaiah Sweh brought a brand-new depth to the hip hop genre with his resilience encompassing EP, Far from Perfect, which explores motivational themes, gets up close to the grit of modernity and covers the very real reality of never being able to keep our demons subjugated forever.

The 4-track downtempo release experiments with trip-hop, RnB, pop and trap textures, but the definitively hip hop release never veers all too far from the roots of the genre. The smooth and ambient vibes in the EP, especially with track 2, TAT (Time After Time), is what vibe out playlists are made for. As a whole, the EP is a much-needed trip away from the frantic pace of our external lives. It’s a chance to pause, reflect, and drink in Isaiah Sweh’s smoothly outlaid introspection.

Far From Perfect is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Drop Etan Sutef’s latest trip of an alt-RnB meets underground hip hop track, Acid

Posted on 16 March 2022

Etan Sutef’s latest single, Acid, is well on its way to going viral after the premiere of the music video on February 22nd. The hazy, mellow track, produced by H.Gold, is sentiment-heavy and soulfully smooth as Etan Sutef lets the lyrics flow as a candid stream of consciousness; making it easy for the listener to find themselves in the apathy, resilience, regret and empathy.

You’d be hard-pressed finding another artist with such maturity and wit in their rap bars and tranquil catharsis in his melodies. The 25-year-old Brooklyn born artist has been finetuning his sonic signature that melds alt RnB with underground hip hop since the age of 13. That discernibly shows with Acid. The magnetic tone of the spoken-word vocals effortlessly gel with the instrumentals that have been saturated in pools of tape delay and reverb.

Check out Acid for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Feel the transcendent calm in Arbo x Linzi Clark’s euphoria-heady feat of electronica, Balancing Act

Posted on 12 March 2022
Arbo

After winning over a significant proportion of the Scottish population with her debut single, All I Have Now, the Paisley singer-songwriter, Linzi Clark, collaborated with a fellow local artist and producer, Arbo, for her stylishly sublime sophomore release, Balancing Act.

The arty and ethereal feat of electronic trip-hop, which was remixed by Arbo, is a transcendent triumph of up-vibe electronica that allows the shimmering melodies to speak to you on a soulful and primal level. Sonically, Linzi Clark’s inspirations include Four Tet, Juliana Barwick and Bonobo. Lyrically, she takes influence from the icons Joni Mitchell and Regina Spektor. With that combination, alchemy was always a guarantee. Especially with Arbo’s arrestive percussion-heavy ambient sound that we hope to hear plenty more of. Quite notably Arbo and Clark are an unstoppable ambient electro force.

Check out Linzi Clark on Facebook and Instagram, or check out the ventures of Arbo on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

QueenK melds RnB with trip-hop in her soberingly evocative release, My Butterfly

Posted on 23 February 2022

RnB and trip-hop collide in QueenK’s latest seductively demure multi-lingual release, My Butterfly, which switches between the independent artist’s mother tongue and English; to mesmerising effect.

My Butterfly falls into the short and sweet trend with a duration of just 1:55 minutes, but QueenK wasted no time in the hypnotic release that mourns the loss of butterflies and questions their existence in her absence. The lyric, “my butterflies don’t fly like they used to”, is particularly striking when versed by QueenK’s vocals that wouldn’t be out of place in a David Lynch production.

My Butterfly was officially released on January 7th. You can check it out for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

OXYG3N introduces us to the ‘New Electric’ in his cinematic electronica single

Posted on 15 February 2022

After growing up on an aural diet of Hooverphonic and Portishead, finding stellar trip-hop in this era is often a thankless mission, but OXYG3N allowed the endeavour to pay off in his recently released ambient work, New Electric.

Right from the prelude, the emotional magnetism in the reverb grips you before pulling you into the hauntingly cinematic track that almost resonates as spiritual. With the chorally quiescent vocals floating in the ether above the snappy structure of the beats and the mellifluous synth melodies, it’s impossible to feel anything less than transfixed once this meditative yet visceral all the same track reaches its outro.

It scarcely comes as a surprise that OXY3N can rack up tens of thousands of streams with singles such as Forbidden Cube, which leans on hip hop with more weight than New Electric, but you’ll still hear nuances of urban grit in the sonic bliss. It is officially better than anything Beach House has released in recent years. For your soul’s sake, delve in.

New Electric is now available to stream via Spotify, along with OXYG3N’s other tranquil hits.

Review by Amelia Vandergast