With the rise of EDM, or electronic dance music, it has become a dominant genre in mainstream music today. Beyond EDM looks to move away from the dance floor and into your earbuds, bringing you artists and genres to calm your senses and vibes, because you can't always turn up.
As summer, AKA music festival season, approaches its hibernation months the mood in the air is changing like the leaves and EDM fans are trading their rave attire for sweatpants and hoodies,
It feels inappropriate to blast Oliver Heldens on afternoon strolls through campus for coffee or en route to meet up with friends for studying. Put away the house tunes and turn on some future-garage and enjoy fall in all of its glory, courtesy of Sorrow.
Sorrow (I know it sounds depressing, but stick with me) is a U.K.-based producer of future-garage, grime and post-dubstep music. The mixture of intense bass with fluttering piano or strings and the atmosphere of his music balances being warm while feeling cold and distant at the same time.
The stark contrast in the presentation of sounds is synonymous with October’s slipping grip on the summer sun, but not yet embracing the shift to winter. More simply put, Sorrow’s music feels more like a hoodie compared to a bro tank top.
That hoodie is the same one that was worn for weeks after every break-up, when no amount of caffeine makes the day speed up, where just trying to fall asleep seems to take forever. Sorrow crafts that odd pace into his music by utilizing hip-hop kicks that lumber throughout his tracks. All the while, more urgent and galloping garage snares crack here and there to keep the energy just high enough that you can’t fall asleep.
The juxtaposition of the percussion being quick yet slow highlights the unique sonic space Sorrow inhabits as a songwriter. For every tune he puts out that finds its way into nightclubs, plenty of other records are crafted for a pair of headphones while lying on the couch in some comfy clothes.
Sorrow's sound is partially inspired by legendary producer Burial, who revolutionized the U.K. two-step scene by crafting an atmospheric, haunting sound. While noticeably similar in the way they introduce and manipulate tones, Sorrow prefers to slow his step even more to accommodate even hazier and sleep deprived tunes. If Burial aimed to reinvent the dance floor, then Sorrow aimed to change the tunes you play during the morning of your next hangover.
If you enjoy this line of music, don't let this be the stopping point for you. Many U.K. producers frequently collaborate with others within the genre and Sorrow is no exception to the rule. He has collaborated with artists like Asa, Stumbleine, CoMa, CYN and submerse.
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Reach the reporter at dloche@asu.edu or follow @DMLoche on Twitter.
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