Track Listing
Galactic Ambassador – Dreamers Deligh Ellie’s Nap – Esseks Sanctuary – Fakear Down For It – Habitaat Wisteria – capshun & Floret Loret Yours – Lil Fish Kailasa – Skysia The Source – An-Ten-Nae Jungle Groove – Ahee Fire Breather – Dysphemic Abysmal – NotLo Dragonfly – nok nok Virah – Orenda Let’s Do This – Bass Temple Nature Falls – Klasey Jones Just like travel, the music industry has been hit hard by what’s happening around the globe right not. Touring DJs and bands have had to cancel their shows indefinitely, up and coming artists have been forced to find workarounds to their source of income and with no end sight, many artists have struggled to survive in this cutthroat world. But survive they have, and in the process, many have found new inspiration to produce records they otherwise wouldn’t have time to. Emergence is the latest compilation straight out of Gravitas Recordings, designed to showcase up and coming new artists. Carefully curated by CloZee, this 15 track album embodies a number of different influences ranging from breakbeat, dubstep, vocal house and chillout into a uniquely head-bopping experience. The first 2 tracks on the album follow a pretty similar trajectory, with the real meat of the track coming from the synth. This certainly lulls you into a false sense of security as ‘Sanctuary’ does a hard 180 turn and shifts the focus across to the vocals and bassline. This track works really well, and warms up for this reviewer’s favourite track on the album, ‘Down For It’. Adopting a more simplistic four-to-the-floor drum beat, the vocals lean into house territory and help to add some variety to this album. And variety is the name of the game here. There’s a very deliberate attempt on Emergence to showcase as many different ideas and artists as possible. This results in a medley of sonics, tracks and styles that work really well to keep you listening through to see what’s coming next. There’s never a moment on this album where you find yourself bored. ‘Yours’ by Lil Fish is the perfect example of this, which drops an absolute floor-filler straight off the back of two chilled tracks. From here, the album then takes a slightly darker turn, twisting and turning through the woods of Jungle Groove, Fire Breather and Abysmal. These ultimately work as a bridge for the end of the album, which throws in some distinct Desert Dweller vibes in ‘Virah’. ‘Let’s Do This’ by Bass Temple is another strong track, although you’ll be forgiven for thinking this is about to drop into drum and bass territory given the distinct build-up. The rising crescendo paves way perfectly for that to ensue but the synth and bass line in this track is fantastic nonetheless. After such a breathless pace, the album eventually closes with ‘Nature Falls’ a proverbial warm-down track that ends things with a reflection on the journey to this point. Emergence is a really neat compilation album, with lots of interesting hooks, basslines and influences. While the name of the game here is breakbeat, the branching genres beyond that help this album to blossom into a strong showcase of talent. Not every track is a surefire winner but the depth and strong compositional work should be enough for you to find at least one track to enjoy on this one.
