Arcane Asylum – “Depression Hits When” / “Walking Down The Street Naked”

Arcane Asylum – “Depression Hits When” / “Walking Down The Street Naked” – Singles Review

You get to that first remarkable transition early on about twenty seconds into “Depression Hits When” and it instantly feels like you’re on solid ground.  Your ears know that you’re in-store for something uniquely special, but also oddly comforting in the genuinely calming, soul-soothing way that can only be felt through great music.  I’ll fully admit, I had no idea what I was going to find with Arcane Asylum, but from the moment I put on “Depression Hits When” towards the start of this week, I felt like I’d found something that could very well go on to become a permanent part of the soundtrack to my LIFE.

So I figured I’d tell ya that straight from the drop, because that’s pretty damn high praise, ain’t it?

Let me tell ya though…I don’t think I’ll be alone in that assessment.  I feel like what we’re tapping into with this music being made in Arcane Asylum is bound to resonate strongly with a whole bunch of you out there listening.  The sonic palette, the depth and definition in a track like “Depression Hits When” is outright staggering y’all…you’ll go from the brightest highs of highs, to the rumbling lows of lows, and what makes a track like this one even more remarkable is how seamless the journey is from point-A to point-B.  For “Depression Hits When” to contain such dreamy vibes on the surface, and possess such an insatiable rumble in the low-end deep below…I mean…it’s extraordinary, straight up!  Credit to Emmet O’Connell as well…it would definitely be a challenge to get a mix as compelling as this is when having to deal with polar opposite extremes of high-end & low on the studio boards, but the dude has completely nailed it and brought the very best out of this material.  I don’t have the details on where the vocals come from, but they’re also expertly threaded into this track.  It’s likely a sample of some sort, then cleverly used in a variety of impressive ways by our hero Emmet throughout “Depression Hits When.”  In any event, the vocal aspect is a seriously wonderful inclusion into this cut without a doubt…both for the sensational sound of the voice when it’s present in the mix, but also for how the music ends up being the main highlight in the finale when the voice goes away as well.  Essentially, you can’t lose.  When the vocals are present, it’s the natural tendency of our ears to hear that as the main star of the show, and that’s justifiable in this case given that it’s a highly mesmerizing part of “Depression Hits When” – but again, credit where credit is due, you end up realizing just how much of an impact the music makes when it’s separated on its own and the low-end rumble takes us to the end of this audible adventure.  This is what it sounds like when Electronic-based music makes making art a genuine priority.  A lot of folks still tend to associate the genre and its many sub-genres with having to contain some kind of wild neon beat that you can dance to – but those of us that have been in the trenches with it for decades know that the Electronic scene has the ability and imagination to go so much further beyond that, like Arcane Asylum is doing with a song like this one here.  I’m highly impressed by the technical skills it would take to make this cut for sure, but even more so by the level of authenticity, art, and imagination.

As for “Walking Down The Street Naked,” I think it’s probably fair to say that it didn’t quite grab me as much as what I heard on “Depression Hits When” in terms of the impact of its ideas overall, but as far as the wild degree of imagination, creativity, and skill are concerned, it’s certainly by no means any kind of let down whatsoever.  You regular readers at this site know full-well that I’m always here to advocate on behalf of the artists and bands with the creative courage required to do things differently than the rest of what’s out there, and “Walking Down The Street Naked” definitely proves that Arcane Asylum is truly unafraid to test the waters and see what can be done with its music.  There are lots of incredible aspects about “Walking Down The Street Naked” that completely appeal to me, but I’d readily acknowledge that a track like this that delves into a much more abstract form of audible art, is always going to be a much tougher sell to the masses, if not outright impossible.  Which is fine – I don’t think that I’m telling Emmet anything he wouldn’t already know with respect to that.  The more art you add into music, the more niche the potential audience becomes, but the remaining fans are fiercely loyal – there’s a trade-off in accessibility that real artists are always willing to risk, because the rewards are immensely beneficial.  “Walking Down The Street Naked” still possesses an appealing level of metal-tinged melody…not metal like the genre, metal like the sound…mechanical…robotic…you get the idea.  It’s a large part of what makes “Walking Down The Street Naked” such a unique tune…it’s almost like what you’d imagine something AI would come up with if it were trained on sounds like Aphex Twin and Boards Of Canada had to offer & then combined them somehow.  That being said, as far as I know, it ain’t AI – it’s Emmet, doin’ his thing…and I’m here for it.  We need artists like this dude that are willing and able to create such a stunning fusion of exploratory expressionism in the Electronic realm, and execute on a professional level within the independent scene.  I’d imagine many of us will listen to these tunes from Arcane Asylum and know that we’re experiencing something uniquely special & different, and that even if we can define or describe WHAT it is that creates its allure, whether it’s the curiosity inducing vibes of something like “Walking Down The Street Naked,” or the evocative mixture of a track like “Depression Hits When” – our ears know when they’ve discovered real art & I have no doubt they’ll appreciate this.

Find out more about Arcane Asylum at the official page at Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/thisisarcaneasylum

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