illywhacker - Smokin' Aces

Before we begin!!!

The Smokin' Aces playlist is now available to follow and stream on Spotify, it'll be updated weekly with all the tunes featuring in these blog posts.

Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4oV9djxq6DviiZQgroTClE?si=xHHI31N7RXSux1_pEfcTnQ

This entry sees the return of my favourite Synthwave/Retrowave duo, The Midnight (Tim McEwan and Tyler Lyle). They'll need no introduction if you've been keeping up with my other Smokin' Aces blog entries.

The tune that has captured my attention recently is a record called 'Monsters', taken from the amazing new album of the same name. This track is a stunning vocal number; a collaboration with the North American duo Jupiter Winter (Lelia Broussard and Royce Whittaker).

Mostly, it was the bassline/main melody combination that captured my attention, almost elastic-like. It just sounds really cool; as a sound designer myself, I really appreciate well-made sounds that feature in the music we listen to. Usually, that's all it takes to hook me into a tune, a certain well made sound that compliments the melody it was designed for. However, let's not overlook the vocal performances here. The large majority of tracks by The Midnight are vocal productions (the ones I've heard, at least), and, almost all of them sound amazing. This collaboration with Jupiter Winter, though, is probably my current favourite production that The Midnight have been involved with. The vocals of both Tyler and Lelia are awesome, especially when layered on top of their vocoded/synthesised vocals just before the drop. I could listen to this record all day and not get bored of it; as it stands, it's been playing on repeat non-stop whilst I've been writing this post (about an hour and a half so far).

Anyway, enough rambling, check it out using the YouTube link below, or head over to the Smokin' Aces Spotify playlist to give it a listen! You can also hear Monsters in my latest False Promises episode (Ep. 009), it's thrown in amongst other Synthwave/Retrowave tracks and the mix is an hour long. Listen using the Mixcloud music player at the top of this website!

Smokin' Aces Spotify playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4oV9djxq6DviiZQgroTClE?si=xHHI31N7RXSux1_pEfcTnQ

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/kZXV2FNfjmw

The Midnight feat. Jupiter Winter - Monsters