dark passenger_ – “as a result [trauma]” – a testament to both his musical savvy and his technical wizardry
Catchy, is a descriptor you might not expect for a dark passenger_ recording. Bombastic electronic textures, together with heady drum and bass explosions aren’t usually a warm embrace, but to hear a restlessly inventive artist like producer Lewis Mander aka dark passenger_ , work his way around this stomping ground, is definitely that. Mander spent his career jamming with guitars before making the move towards new electronic sounds and software, jumping from the conventional to the innovative. Each of his tracks is complex and lovingly crafted, while the urgency and frenetic energy of the best IDM doesn’t get lost in his forward-thinking aesthetic.
It’s wonderful to listen to a challenging track where from the first few seconds, you know you’re in the safe hands of a master, and no matter where he takes you, the result is going to be interesting. His latest single, “as a result [trauma]” is a dark grinding, banger indebted to dynamic percussion sequences that keep the rhythm steady while the buzzing bass synths are free to flourish. The song gets progressively riskier, diving deeper into discordant harmony and throbbing cacophony of sound.
The basslines are menacing, its churning groove melding with the stunningly intricate beat work. dark passenger_ cheekily ups the intensity over the song’s dizzying five minutes never allowing you to catch your breath. It’s clear that even in moments of major bombast, dark passenger_ has been sure to fill his tracks with endless details. Hidden underneath the apparent mayhem, lies a subtle melody which quietly satisfies your need for familiarity. It’s not in the entire song, but your subconscious will pick up on it when the time comes.
dark passenger_’s ability to mix brutalist acid with an avant-garde sensibility is what is most exciting about his music. The uninitiated may only hear chaos at first. Whereas electronic heads will discern a technically remarkable sound designer, upending conventional sonic architecture, and transforming it into jagged shards of stylized grit.
A perpetual experimentalist, Lewis Mander consistently delivers electronic tracks jam-packed with ideas and vibrantly aggressive tones, of which “as a result [trauma]” slots in, as yet another prime example of the creative colossus that is dark passenger_.
The intensity of “as a result [trauma]” is overwhelming, yet in its composition, it’s easy to sense that dark passenger_ is calm and collected throughout. The track seems like an authentic reflection of the artist following his impulses.
Despite the bombast and kinetic energy coming off the production, dark passenger_ creates tension and atmosphere like the best movie soundtrack composers. These edgy elements run throughout the single, and while the sound palette is emotive and unpredictable, it’s tightly woven into a propulsive rhythmic structure.
dark passenger_’s ability to tactfully deal his musical hand keeps him from sound sounding too challenging or too leftfield. He lets his creative musicality run free until just before it risks becoming weird, and then harnesses the arrangement by pulling back. It’s a testament to both his musical savvy and his technical wizardry. dark passenger_’s approach on “as a result [trauma]” remains bulletproof – a bastion of genuine musicality in what is quickly becoming his very own music genre.
OFFICIAL LINKS: https://www.facebook.com/drkpassngr
