There’s a pretty stunning sense of development throughout Rillivid’s latest release Traveler, not least of all due to the journey implied by the title. This feeling of moving and progressing is strong, but structurally, in terms of the song writing – the crafting of the composition itself – this is quite unlike any of his previous releases.
The intensity of the music is as striking as ever. Rillivid takes the most alternative synths and sounds available and seems to express certain emotional depths by means of specific production techniques, even so much so as which type of distortion to use and when exactly to use it. Throughout the four minutes and thirty three seconds that Traveler is playing, there are distorted walls of sound followed by gentle and dreamlike puddles of minimalism, all of which adds to the emotional realness and the journey, and all of which showcases the true scope of his ability as a an artist and a producer.
Listen to it in private, as is often the instruction with producers of such creative precision. You get the full effect by paying attention to the detail, though simultaneously surrendering entirely to the overall ambiance. The opening few bars of music have a softness that is tinged with reflective thought and hope. Then as the first minute mark passes by, the beat falls away, the pace rises higher, and with it – the energy, that intensity.
There’s a particular riff that comes into play and makes up the signature sound of this release, but it doesn’t grab you in the way that a hook melody or chorus would. It simply fits there, making perfect sense, and yet unsettling you – drawing from you all at once excitement, calmness, and an inescapable feeling of being very far from home.
Never one to fall victim to an audience’s expectations – Rillivid is an artist, first and foremost, and a uniquely skilled producer at the very same time. What you get from his music is a complete and captivating experience, as well as an eclectic range of ideas and sounds and samples.
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