As a producer, speakeađťźťy describes his music as ‘angsty millennial type beats’. Perhaps this is the perfect way to define his approach, but there’s far more to the sound and experience of this project than a simple four-word phrase can express. Depth and substance play a huge part, lyrically and in terms of the emotion and mood that each soundscape presents you with.
Producer
“I listen to music 85 percent of the day and I am always listening to different artists. Experimental listening is what helps me gain new perspectives and allows me to begin a project. I’ll take one craze and I’ll try to add my own touch.”
Fusing cinematic qualities and a multitude of details, the track moves along smoothly at first, growing increasingly energetic and intense as it progresses. Alongside of this, the vocal fragments become sentences, ideas, and this sets the scene in an even more striking way.
“YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) is a grass-roots political movement that focuses on housing issues all over the United States and around the world. It is a reaction against NIMBY (Not In My BackYard), where a lot of affordable housing developments are being blocked by local governments, driving up rent prices and homelessness rates everywhere, especially around the major metro areas in the US.”
“I can’t stop making music. I’m an artist. I don’t think I’d know what to do with myself if I wasn’t creating art or making music. I’m not good at fishing or golf.”
Patience and peace rarely play a role in modern life, but they should, and perhaps they must as times move faster and grow noisier and more impactful on our every day existence. Enter YIMBY, these compositions, and the choice to temporarily free yourself from the manic downpour of information.
Leading with a classically smooth and hopeful pop backdrop, a creatively meandering synth riff but one that feels notably more complex than the average pop offering, along with a light beat and a quickly emotional, compelling vocal, The Hearts Got Memory shines brightly as a retro pop classic with passion and intention.
New American Hustle sees producer and multi-instrumentalist Ian Smith collaborate with a host of superb vocalists, amidst an array of hard-hitting and almost genre-free compositions; the likes of which pour through with precisely the level of grit, melody and rhythm required to lift you up and provide that perfectly alternative escapism that modern life craves.
There’s a certain passionate depth to the writing, and the featured singer handles and presents this with an air of realness. Behind the vocal though, the soundscape is decidedly complex, unexpectedly detailed and multi-layered to the point that you can pick up something new with each revisit.
Despite the complex and impressive nature of the instrumentation, it takes nothing away from the natural qualities of the voice. Impeccable production, incredibly skillful and absolutely worthy of any and all praise sent through.
Seeing Hooks By: DJ reach even further with his uninhibited creativity, this collaboration with singer Danielle Hollobaugh makes for a smooth, shoulder-swaying alternative hip hop track with equal parts delicacy and weight.
Las Vegas brothers Menace To $ociety work hard to craft and create hip hop with purpose. They write with intention, an underlying story and meaning, and their music speaks volumes on behalf of that.