Beats Antique is bringing their distinctive fusion of performance art, acoustical-electronic and world music styles to the TLA Friday, September 21 in support of their seventh studio album, Contraption Vol. 2 ,out tomorrow on Antique Records. The band made the album’s first single, “Skeleton Key”, available as a free download on their website. Check after the jump for a review of “Skeleton Key”.
“Skeleton Key” fades in dramatically with an electronic effect, followed by a Middle Eastern string instrument that quickly builds tension and bursts into a dubstep drop. The glitchy bass-tone squishes itself in between the string vamp and the mid-tempo beat like an interrupting friend who insists on getting their point in, but it is perfectly balanced with the other instruments and isn’t as invasive as the words “dubstep drop” may imply.
The bass temporarily breaks out of its shell into a bellowing spotlight walk, joined by adventurous electronic effects which fill in the spaces between the percussion. This eases some of the tension, but it quickly gets heavy again by breaking into another drop, this time with the string instrument leading as a slightly mellowed out bass pokes in and out of the beat.
Once the opening segment is revisiting during the second half of the song, it is clear that the next drop is going to be the one to seal the deal. The song concludes with a percussive-laden groove, coupled with various instrumental pieces from the song that are stitched together into a perfectly cohesive composition that rises and falls before fading away on a single note, a far cry from its urgent beginning.
Check out the track list for Contracption Vol. 2 below:
One glance at Jakes twisting and gyrating to a hypnotic groove full of of worldly (and otherworldly) sounds and it is easy to see how the trio captivates audiences. “Skeleton Key” is definitely a track worth downloading, and you shouldn’t miss Beats Antique at the Theater of Living Arts if you are in Philly this Friday.
Oddlux Media 