Electro-spiritual gangster Travis Scott of Machinedrum is no stranger to the drop. Master of sonic emotion and a strategic spine-tingling bass artist, Scott has recently found his happy and he wants to share it with you till your grooving. Cue the anticipated 2016 release of his album Human Energy.
The spectrum of Machinedrum’s career is immense, and he’s got a stockpile discography to match. Moving to record label Ninja Tune in 2013, the company describe Human Energy as a career-defining album; ‘one which will take him from best-kept-secret of the electronic music cognoscenti to breakout star of the US music scene‘.
Previous lovers of his music will definately recognise a new skip in his step, perhaps owed to the transformative power of recently falling in love and relocating from eclectic Berlin to sunny California. With this, we now have a potion of experimental dance music, blends of trap, hip hop and pop with a glitch style polyrhythm and a sense of euphoria combined with his revival of a lifelong interest in New Age healing and the esoteric. And therein lies the twist…
Stewart is a feeler more than a concept artist, and this is what seperates him from the rat race of electronic producers trying to constantly redefine and find their niche within genre. Human Energy is somewhat of an audio synesthesia of Stewart’s revitalised spirituality.
Let’s start at the first track on the album Lapis, a climactic arpeggio build up from start to its dissolution into some unknown dimension. This sets the vision of the album as we anticipate a drop, but get carried away into Machinedrum’s gentle and cinematic soundscape. After Morphogene, a electro heavy track featuring Ruckazoid, we are then treated to a collaboration with Melo-X in Angel Speak, who’s fresh from contributing to a little known album called Lemonade by Beyoncé. Both tracks are undoubtably influenced by the hip hop culture of his gleaming Los Angeles surroundings, all the while remaining loyal to Machinedrum’s IDM style. So yes, please, keep dancing.
We then arrive at the stars of the show, Tell U, featuring the unique RnB vocals of Rochelle Jordan, and Do it 4 U, which thanks to the abstract distortion of Dawn Richard singing ‘Let me give you life’ throughout, will be a top summer anthem contender.
Skipping to Track 13, all grimey, kick-drum loving, skittish, trippy, triple-time trap fans rejoice to ‘Human Energy’s’ debut single Dos Puertos. Blessed with the contribution of Brooklyn-based rapper/songwriter Kevin Hussein, his talent is evident with many collaborations including Rihanna, Kid Cudi and M.I.A to name a few.
White Crown also deserves an honourable mention for the shredding dexterity of progressive heavy metal guitarist Tosin Abasi, and if you were at all disappointed that Lapis didn’t deliver the climactic shift you had hoped for, you will find it in this banger of a tune.
If you want to get swept up in the positive vibes of ‘Human Energy’ you’re in luck, as not only is the album now in stores, but Machinedrum will be playing a sideshow in Sydney for Subsonic Music Festival at the Civic Underground on November 30.