Take Wall F——k. This is an exceptionally thick track, with more layers than I could think to count, and not a single spoken word. It’s an assault, sonically, but it doesn’t feel aggressive so much as it just feels deep and bass-filled. Yes, there’s lots of music like it, but there’s so little that feels so inventive in its light touches.

There’s a reason Flume is such a success. If he weren’t so good at adding pop inflection to big remixes, he’d be making intellectual electronic ambience like Tycho. It’s Streten’s ability to marry both ambience and production value that makes him such a wunderkind.

If there’s ever a rough spot on Skin, it’s some of the rap contributors that appear throughout. These tracks are often weaker than the others, if only because the rappers can’t hold a candle to Flume’s production.

But despite that, it’s hard not to recommend those tracks. Smoke & Retribution is far from my favourite track on the record, but it’s hard not to talk about it because the production work is so wildly inventive. The beat Flume has come up with is almost completely alien, totally different from what we’re used to hearing.

I could point to every track on the record and say something great about it. Skin is the sort of album that’s worth listening to from beginning to end, with good headphones on, and enjoying while knowing as little as possible about it. The pleasant surprises are part of the journey. And the final track is… Well, Beck guests on it.

With that in mind, I want to leave you to listen to Skin without me spoiling some of its best moments. If you like electronic music, you’ll love Flume’s Skin. It’s one of my favourite albums of the year so far.

The post Flume: Skin appeared first on Unsung Sundays.

The two also make an incredible pair. Flume’s electronic synthesizers pair well with Faker’s wobbly, broken-sounding voice and result in something that sounds more like an amalgamation of both of their styles than it does the sound of Faker or Flume alone.

While Flume has a great sense of beat and rhythm, and is more than willing to break tradition to try something new, on Lockjaw he breaks that tradition to cater more towards Faker’s voice. And Faker stretches himself to match Flume’s pop sensibilities.

Hindsight is 20/20, of course. What’s most interesting about Lockjaw is what it says about Faker’s career progression: the EP nearly perfectly bridges his styles as he moved from Thinking With Textures to some of Built On Glass’s more evident pop tonalities. It makes you wonder what Flume’s sophomore record Skin, due at some point this year, is going to sound like.

At three tracks long, Lockjaw is short and sweet, and easily digestible. Putting it on repeat reveals a lot of fine details and incredible production value: only Flume and Chet Faker could make it sound as if the music you’re hearing is coming from above and below you, as well as the left and right channels of your stereo speakers.

Lockjaw, like everything these two artists make, is an experience.

The post Flume & Chet Faker: Lockjaw (EP) appeared first on Unsung Sundays.