By It’s our Bandcamp Picks of the Week, featuring Forgotten Warmth Becomes Dust’s varied and textured self-titled house EP and the Disphing’s fiery glitch pop album HREF!
Forgotten Warmth Becomes Dust – S/T
Genre: Downtempo, Trip Hop, Speed House
Favorite Tracks: “Purgatory on Earth,” “Chamomile”
A cascading, riveting downpour of beatific house music, FORGOTTEN WARMTH BECOMES DUST is the key to sink into that seraphic soundscape. The self-titled EP from the Brooklyn duo of singer-songwriter Nailoh and multimedia artist plygid sees their superb like-mindedness distilled to a hasty eight minutes. Even once the ethereal electronics swiftly come to a halt, the divinity lingers on. The collection carries the intimacy of witnessing an abstruse DJ set: song selections crate-dug from the ether, desperate pleas to Shazam to attain some name of what you’re hearing, and above all else, a night to never forget. While partly a throwback to turn-of-the-century hip hop and downtempo, the glossy yet earthy sonics parallel the allure of such revivalists a.s.o. doing the same: cinematic, restrained, and profound subversive pop recalling that of the aughts. FORGOTTEN WARMTH BECOMES DUST is alluring for resolving the scarcity of this musical phenomenon by providing more, especially from a DIY mentality.
Opener “Purgatory On Earth” establishes the ruminative nature ingrained in the sound and lyrics. The uptempo, four-on-the-floor speed house tune recalls the lustrous and addictive breakbeats of Everything but the Girl. For that, a longing, sophisti-pop sensibility is imbued into the propulsive yet pensive belter. With words derived from introspection, specifically on being dishonest to yourself in a taxing romantic relationship, the brooding sentiment of the release becomes all the more momentous, relatable, and necessary.
Such musings bleed instrumentally into “Haunted Days,” the first song written for the EP that catalyzed its meditative shape. The previous vigorous energy is flipped with coiling, echoing electronics and rolling percussion, where Nailoh’s gracious voice glides above the drifting, shadowy haze. The phrase “It was spring” is repeated throughout, calling upon notions of the transitional periods between seasons helping oneself break free from the past. Tying the release together is the tight, wind-down coda “Chamomile.” Traces of Sweet Trip’s modern dub jam “Stab/Slow” seep into its way here, a parallel drawn from the closer’s pitched-down, pixelated fade-out. Navigating the in-between cycles of seasons emerges once more, as the song’s original title, “Lonesome Blossom,” refers to an isolated flower blooming in solitude, with only the viewer—perhaps the listener—noticing it. The song’s transience is what gives it its grandeur.
Although short, the engrossing sound and feeling of Forgotten Earth Becomes Dust’s converging saccharine reflections and nature are unending. Those entrancing spirals bolstered by the shimmering, gilded artwork invite you to this music to lose yourself in and to. FORGOTTEN WARMTH BECOMES DUST is available via project-based music label Big Tent Records. Half of all proceeds will be donated to aid the people of the Congo, Palestine, and Sudan in their ongoing struggle for freedom. Listen to it on Bandcamp. [Dom Lepore]
Disphing – HREF
Genre: Hyperpop, Glitch Pop, Indietronica
Favorite Tracks: “incentive,” “ineffable,” “inCaseOfEmergency”
Within the expanding Internet communities that Gen Z lives and breathes in, there is a sense of needing to belong, internally questioning their circumstances and identities to the point of overthinking, a brand of anxiety that a lot of teenage Gen Zs try to circumvent as they linger within these online spaces. Looking to the 18-year-old electronic musician Disphing, they certainly know how that feels, exploring these emotions within the album HREF.
Throughout the album, you can immediately hear how Disphing takes their sonic influences towards hyperpop, glitch, and indietronica and shapes it into their own. It’s glitchy and bombastic in its textures, but Disphing’s mixing has a clarity that makes the melodies stand out. The blaring EDM melodic segments work extremely well with how Disphing structures their songs. Pairing that with an outstanding amount of melodic flourishes on the instrumental and vocal melodies, what results is a project that sticks in your head more often than not, especially with all of the excellent hooks populating this 38-minute album. “Incentive” is an immediate standout, the chalky drums laying the foundation that leads to the massive chorus, where Disphing’s vocals bounce around with stride before the rumbling guitar bridges to a synth solo with an immense swell. The shuffling instrumentation of “inadequate,” with its driving drums and acoustics, let Disphing’s vocals glide through with ease, only then dripping their vocals with effects and letting out an intensified delivery that leads to an explosive dubstep climax. “Inlet” and its rhythmic grooves and hushing vocal melodies float around your head, creating an atmosphere that’s both danceable but also soothing in Disphing’s unique way.
Disphing’s ability as a songwriter is also worth noting, especially towards crafting that specific Gen Z experience of trying to connect with people in sprawling online communities, and how much anxiousness, boredom, and overthinking can affect themselves as well as the connections that they try to manage. The soaring synth melodies of “inertia” amplify the sense of fragile strength that Disphing is trying their hardest to control. “I promised I would be careful / but now I find myself second-guessing most everything.” It’s that very line that exposes the hesitations and insecurities that lurk all across the writing, slowly stacking up and soon blowing all over on the striking melodic passages on “ineffable,” where the various waves of instrumental breakdowns, melodic crescendos, and vocal shifts excellently present the push-and-pull conflict of not accepting the pressures that Disphing has received—either from themself or from the connections they’ve grasped—instilling a bit of courage to break out of that anxious mindset.
After realizing that the connection did not last long, “inCaseOfEmergency” closes out the record with a relieving but heartwrenching exhale. Through the slowly modulating pace of the song, you closely listen to Disphing’s solemn vocals as they accept that the connection once made has never stuck, vocalizing the set of lines that makes this acceptance so aching. “The tears are burning my eyes / Knowing I can’t give you the peace of mind you need / Because truthfully there’s nothing I can do.” It then leads to the swelling melody crashing into an emotional EDM breakdown, soon followed up by a quaint silence where Disphing sings in their sincere, assured self: “I can make it up to you somehow.” The closing line imparts the possibility of reconnection, ending the album with a shred of hope flashing within the distance.
Rich in its melodies and instrumental detail amidst impressive vocal runs and emotive narrative weight, HREF immediately connects during your first and repeated listens. You can check out Disphing’s staggering brand of electronica on Bandcamp. [Louis Pelingen]
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