Shining a spotlight of pure sensual rhythm onto the dark and dirty corners of bass music, Phutureprimitive’s latest release, Searching for Beauty in the Darkest Places Part 1, takes the listener down some dusky corridors of sound while maintaining an elegant and almost cinematic stature. Once you’ve listened to Part 1, you’ll be clawing at the walls in anticipation of Part II… But you’ll have to strap yourself down until the Fall.
The first track “Enemy” features the vocals of Jillian Ann, a dubstep goddess in her own right. Her ethereal voice telling tales of seduction and manipulation coupled with the whomp of Phutureprimitive leaves the listener in a hot and sweaty mess of tangled sheets.
“Vamp” keeps the Eyes Wide Shut feel of the album going, with snippets of moans from female and male vocals, interspersed with intensely intricate basslines and drops. “Only You” is a bass ballad with rolling build ups that push closer and closer to a daring precipice of sound and emotion, until dropping fully into a deep dark abyss of lasers.
Phutureprimitive’s remix of Jillian Ann‘s “Passes Away” is a melancholy sentiment of everything coming to an end, brightened by the crackling bass and thwacks of his signature organic electronic music.
Closing out the album is Phutureprimitive’s remix of The Human Experience’s “Dusted Compass,” which may be one of the most moving tracks on the release. The lyrics repeat “Somehow we’re moving closer,” and it resonates on some seriously profound levels while the gentle strings, squishy bass, and the inevitable drop send fingers of ice creeping up and down your spine, tickling the back of your neck. The excitement of knowing that this is only Part 1 sparkles on the tip of your tongue as the music fades out.
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