So while some tracks are more uplifting and others are mostly immersive, the aesthetic bond is M-Paths’ particular way of choosing timbres, effects and textures and laying down the melodies.
Covering divergent electronic music grounds without losing coherence
Last week M-Paths, an electronic music duo formed by Marcus Farley and Nick Murray, released Submerge, their second album on the Mighty Force music label from the UK. It’s a diverse genre album, a challenge that shows how the artists can cover divergent electronic music grounds without losing coherence. So while some tracks are more uplifting and others are mostly immersive, the aesthetic bond is M-Paths’ particular way of choosing timbres, effects and textures and laying down the melodies.
The title track introduces the album giving a hint on what’s to come by showing some aesthetical elements that will appear on other songs with the objective to induce contemplation and introspection. The next track, “Panoramic,” shows how a low paced chill minimal techno track with crunchy clicks, airy textures and a beautiful arpeggio melody can also be groovy and mesmerizing. “Reflect,” my favorite pick of the album, lays gorgeous atmospheric synth pad chords that resemble early electronic music from the 90s. Love the broken distorted beats and also the key change in the middle of the track. Up next, the beginning of “Soaring” keeps the ambience with windy voice sounds but it rapidly gains an amazing driving force, like an anxiety propeller, with its deep bassline and pounding drums.
On “Grow Part Three,” the artists show more incisively their peculiar way of structuring a track, where they take out all the melodic elements when a break is needed, leaving only the beats, which creates void time blocks as a form of leaving space to gaze inside oneself. In contrast, as the title says, “Escaping The Humdrum” is a drum and bass tune that brings the action to the table with a direct rave-infused synth-work.
There’s an aesthetic cohesion between the next three tracks, not only by their 4×4 beats but for the chosen synth, with a chime-like arpeggio that makes them all futuristic. Nonetheless, each track has its peculiarities. While “In No Hurry” mixes deep house bassline and beats with a synth progression that takes the listener to an oniric place, “On The Up” is more of an uplifting melodic techno. On the other hand, “Celestial” blends both the drive and the daydream feel.
The last part of the album points to an atmospheric direction with “Beach,” a delicate drum and bass tune based on a piano, the wavey broken beat called “In The Warmth,” the moody “Contemplate” and the quite sad “Emerge,” which finishes the piece in a resilient and hopeful way.
Submerge is available on Mighty Force. [Bandcamp]
