Sitting somewhere inside a vaporwave video game arcade, on a corner table, watching the gaming world tumble by, is ‘hibeams’, the new single from electronic artist devonwho. It’s the lead single from the Portland-based producer’s forthcoming new album, ‘TV2’, and devonwho describes it as “modern instrumental synthesiser funk therapy”.
It’s been five years since devonwho’s last release, and speaking about this gap, he says:
“I was overthinking releasing music, but I’ve reached a place of enjoyment with production. Not worried about pressures of having a consistent output. I’m back to making music for fun. I’ve been making this stuff for years and years, and something just clicked to release the music.”
This realisation has led devonwho’s new album being a collection of live loops, patch generation, and arpeggiators. Driven more by feeling and intuition, rather than song structure, it’s led to songs that paint fleeting moments and memories. This simplistic but textured approach is why ‘hibeams’ struck my core upon the first listen. I’m reminded of music from the PS2 game ICO and the blocky vaporwave scene. The synth loops have a warm grain to them, like summer rain. There’s an overarching feeling of restoration, like a calm stage clear screen, or items screen, but inside a strange unethered world. The other notable highlight is that there are no beats or percussion. This is something the album will explore further. Devonwho remarks that the music will be informed by loops and beatmaking, but essentially become beatless synth funk.
The excellent ‘hibeams’ is out now. ‘TV2’ is scheduled for release on 16th October. You can preorder the album on Bandcamp. For more information, visit devonwho’s website.
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