Cybercrain – “Starman” / “Luminora”

Cybercrain – “Starman” / “Luminora” – Singles Review

I know I’ve probably said this more than a few times over the course of my twenty-five years of being involved in music journalism, but I really didn’t know what to expect when I pushed play this time around.  Aside from a few of the most random conversations I’ve had to-date with Cybercrain, there’s like, not a whole lot of information I can share with ya…digital music…space themes…the same stuff that you’d be able to conclude by having a look at the official YouTube channel.  I’m no prophet – just a guy that is unafraid to tell you what sounds good and what doesn’t on the permanent record, in writing.  I’ve got one single from about two years ago that is the third most popular cut in Cybercrain’s catalog so far according to the numbers…so dude doesn’t really need my opinion on that…he already knows people like it, and what difference would it even make if I didn’t?  I’m just one person and he’s got thousands of hits on “Starman” showing their love and approval long before I ever got around to listening to it.  For the record though, I do like what I hear.  The other track I’ve got is brand-new…about a week or so old I guess…it’s called “Luminora,” which might arguably be the stronger of the two cuts…let’s check’em out.

“Starman” has that otherworldly feel to it right off the drop.  Nothing so far to the extreme that it’d put this digital hero in the heavily atmospheric/experimental terrain like you’d find in K-ORA, though I’m sure both projects would be overlapping in a Venn Diagram when it comes to their interests outside of making music.  What Cybercrain is doing is a whole lot more pronounced when it comes to its digitalized sound on “Starman,” but still fairly delicate at the same time – which I suppose probably puts it closer to stuff we’ve experienced like Ltronnika.  It’s not the rough & warped stuff you’d hear in something like Cirex, or as crazy as you’d hear in something like BROCK…”Starman” is a gentle and inoffensive tune, simple as that really.  Where does it fit?  Where does it belong?  I mean, a track like this speaks pretty strongly on behalf of being a soundtrack-worthy type of tune…and I’m not 100% sure it has a whole lot of room in places outside that realm.  Sure, you’ll find a couple people (okay, thousands) here and there that might be interested in making this kind of digitalized serenity part of their main diet…but I’m sure that even Cybercrain knows by now that this isn’t really a mainstream type of music that’s being made here.  Sadly we’re still livin’ on the timeline where everyone out there wants to sing along with the music they’re listening to on the way to their 9-5, and there’s no doubt a track like “Starman” isn’t gonna fill that hole.  It IS well made when it comes right down to it…I think the production is stellar…I do like the actual sound selection overall, even if it felt a little limited for a song of this length.  At nearly six minutes in total…I mean…let’s just say it’s a fairly large ask for the average everyday listener to not get lost in the fog here – there’s not a ton of dynamics happening in “Starman” when it comes right down to it, so it leans heavily on repetition, patterns, and sounds that don’t take it all that much further by the end than where it all started originally.  If we’re goin’ on an exploratory odyssey with ya Cybercrain, then take us somewhere – you feel me?  “Starman” doesn’t really attempt to do a whole lot other than just be a song that’s well assembled…I’m not hearing any significant chances being taken here…I’m not hearing a track that is being played with the sense of urgency or understanding that there is so much more music out there that people can be listening to – it’s missing that essential spark and reason to return to it, from my perspective.  Now…don’t get it twisted though – as I’ve said a million times on these pages of ours, a flawless song is still a freakin’ AMAZING achievement – and I wouldn’t tell you that “Starman” is anything other than that…it’s perfect when it comes to the structure and attention to detail in the structure…but it’s pretty far removed from the pulse of the public and what people are listening to right now.  Again, that’s not something that really matters if that doesn’t align with the goals of why the music is being made in the first place…if you’re Cybercrain and you’re just looking to do music as a hobby then have at it hoss, of course – but if you’re looking to create music that is going to genuinely wow the masses, then there’s a whole lot more that needs to be done.  “Starman” is just above a flatline when it comes to the excitement factor, which practically puts a track like this in the Ambient realm.  No disrespect intended – I love a ton of ambient music and I like this song too – it’s just not usually the go-to genre for exciting tunes.  You go that for…well…basically soundtrack style music outside of a movie.

“Luminora” however, shows us a little more promise, and I’d argue some artistic evolution in what Cybercrain creates as well.  If “Starman” sounded great in the production, then believe me when I tell ya, “Luminora” sounds that much better, brighter, and bolder.  Or better yet, like I always tell you, don’t believe me at all – and go listen to these songs for yourselves.  I’m still not gonna be the guy claiming that Cybercrain has got the kind of single you’re going to write home about or tell all your friends to drop everything their doing to listen to it…”Luminora” is still not going to generate that kind of audible excitement – but it is decidedly interesting to listen to.  Cybercrain does have a solid understanding of how to use the studio boards and programs to the music’s advantage, and of course, the better system you’re listening to songs like this on, the more you’ll hear the impeccable attention to detail.  I’m still going to advocate on more needing to be done in terms of what would make something like this all a whole lot more accessible to the people out there, but I think it’s also fair to say “Luminora” does more in that regard than we experienced with “Starman.”  Of all things, for me, it’s the clarity in the production that has me most impressed…there’s definitely technique and craft in what Cybercrain creates, and it’s these kinds of skills that’ll fuel the journey forward from here.  Even at the end of “Luminora,” we get this small smattering of texture as the music breaks down as it fades away, and I felt like that was the kind of interesting stuff I’d love to hear earlier on…because our ears notice the change in texture from being so ultra-slick and smooth to its granular disintegration in the final seconds.  Right now, I’d still tell ya that “Luminora” is headed for the space odysseys and soundtracks…or again, I could still see this sitting in the Ambient section similar to how something like Boards Of Canada would fit in there…as in, it doesn’t, but really where else would you put it?  Ultimately, I have no qualms or even any major concerns about anything I hear in either of these two tracks…they’re fine as they are…but I think that’s where the decisions really need to be made by Cybercrain.  Did you set out to make music that some critic like myself would one day describe as ‘fine’ – or were you hoping for a stronger reaction?  I would personally listen to these songs…and I think that many folks would when it comes right down to it – but I don’t know that they’ve got a whole lot of inherent staying power, or give us that reason to return to them again later on.  Feels a bit like a one & done type scenario…whereas you might like what you hear from Cybercrain in that first impression, but you’d still move on to the next songs in the catalog to see if they have more to offer your ears.  In the grand scheme of things, it looks like Cybercrain has only been releasing music professionally for a couple years in the world according to YouTube…so give this dude time to keep dialing it in and be more daring with the creativity involved.  Especially when you’re looking to create that kind of exploratory sound…there’s so much freedom in that to do so many things differently than anyone else would…and the more Cybercrain uses that to the music’s advantage, the further it’s bound to travel.  This sounds like a good start so far though…we’ll see where it all goes from here…the real key is to make things so undeniably special that no set of ears could ever dispute it.  The technical skills are clearly there – now it’s all about creating a sonic identity that we’ll all remember.

Find more music by Cybercrain at Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/artist/20AlVxnel9BmQ0rJ4jK1HX

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