012.5 - The Deep Dive - Cryosauna - Restless Notes and Interview

The deep dive is for readers who want to dig further into the album by reading the notes and pre-review interview that is done with each artist.  It is best read after the review.

 

Notes

Urban - Some light synths and a female chanted vocal start off the song.  It brings a really mystical atmosphere to start the album.  Kind of gives us a clue of what is going to be happening, very nuanced atmospheres with minimal melodies and some additions that help bring the songs character and depth.
The song’s name is Urban and it's an interesting choice.  I can absolutely see this fitting into an urban setting but there is also a celestial component to this.  It's like the city lights are pointing our eyes skyward as we wonder what's out there.  At least that's the imagery I get when listening to the intro here.  
About a minute in we get to what really sets this album - and really all of Cryo’s albums - apart.  The percussion used throughout this album is straight out of 2-step/future garage and I absolutely love it.  The beats are interesting and they give each song an extra layer of character.  The songs are very well composed without the beats but with the beats they go from being nice ambient pieces to something truly special.
When the beat comes in there are a few minimal melodies that come in over the background atmospherics as well.  I love this minimalism, it forces the listener to really pay attention to catch everything.  Great way to start the album.

Steel - Very similar to the way that Urban starts out there is a minimalist atmosphere with some obscured voices talking in the background.  The intro lasts for about a minute and uses that time to wrap the listener in to the song rather than just bludgeoning them over the head with the beat.  This gives the listener enough time to realize that new elements are slowly being added in and gives a bit of a breather from just going to beat to beat.  Excellent pacing.  
When the percussion does come in the kick and snare work are what really stand out.  This is not standard four on the floor percussion.  This is thoughtfully executed and adds a great deal of character and individuality to the song.  
The song continues to go through an ebb and flow as the beat is introduced and then taken away multiple times.  Each time the ambient sections showcase the nuance that is going on in the background that can easily be missed if you are more focused on the beat.  This is a great reminder to the listener that there is more going on than they may realize.
What I’m really starting to dig is the use of vocals on here.  The haunting background vocals really give the song extra depth.  I was driving the other night down a busy street and this song came on, and it fit perfectly to what was going on.  The city streets were poorly lit by lights, but just enough to understand where I was going.  People going about their way with no regard for anyone else, a lonely sea of urban mess.  This song captures that feeling perfectly.

Jade Glass - This is another shorter song, and it begins with ambience again.  This time though there is no percussion to speak of.  Though for an ambient track this is very active.  This may have the most active instrumentals so far in the album.  
The melodies work well together with a synth pad acting as the backbone for the song.  What may be considered the main melody comes in around 45 seconds into the song and it takes it from a slow introspective piece to something that you would think would go with something more in the cyberpunk vibe.  None of the other instrumentals stop however so it becomes a very interesting contrast.  

Cobalt - Silence and echos.  That’s how we start off here, again a nice different take on the start of a song compared to the others before it.  Gives me the feeling like we may be in a cave or something similar.  The synths come in about 30 seconds in and maintain that sense of echo that started the song.  
When the beat comes in around a minute there's some female vocals that are reverbed and filtered behind some sort of effect. I’m not sure what she is saying but I don’t really think we’re meant to either.  Adds to the mystery of the whole thing.  
There are elements in this song of deep dubstep, I hear some of the same effects used like I’ve heard Distance use years and years ago.  It's a very welcome effect and adds an additional fold to the song.  Really enjoy this song and its placement in the album is almost perfect, stands out just enough to offer variety while still maintaining the overall cohesive feel of an album.  

Ishii - Ishii means stone wall.  The song starts off with that same filter on a voice as seen in Cobalt, but it's a male voice this time.  The ambience slowly fades in and the chord progression reminds me of something Sangam would write.  There is a sense of building in this song that hasn’t been present in the other songs to this point.  Like everything is leading in a specific direction.  Another cool change from the previous songs.  Love this sense that all the songs belong together here, but each one has its own trait that makes it stand out.
When the beat does come in it's like the release of the build up.  The song doesn’t explode or anything but it does have a strong direction where it adds all the elements from before.  Everything here is mixed together so well that this song has a super chill vibe to it, in fact most of this album is very chill despite how active the percussion is.  Very cool dichotomy.
There is a long period of silence at the end of the song that is curious. Need to ask Cryo about that.  

Disused Sector - What a strange song.   This is the first song where rain and other city ambience is used as a key player.  Much of the song is a phased synth pad with other elements played over top.  Towards the end there are “vocals” for lack of a better term.  They are mixed very loudly and are very contrary to the chill vibe that the album has put out to this point.  Very curious to see what the difference in composition was for this one compared to the other tracks so far.  

Dreamcipher - Here it is, this may be the best song on here.  The intro here is particularly interesting, it sounds like a combination of sci-fi effects and a horror movie.  Its only when the percussion comes in that a male voice has some tones above it.  The first minute is a really sweet build up to what ends up being a very dark track. Again this reminds me of a dreampunk version of Distance.
The more the song progresses the more elements are added and the more that the beat evolves.  It gives the song more of an identity the further in we get.  The final change happens right around 3 minutes in, a female voice calls out for a brief second and then we get some more deep dubstep elements added in.  The male and female voices call back and forth to each other.  This whole thing just works, and its got a subtle darkness to it in a way that is lacking in much of the larger scope of the album and genre.  Really good stuff, top notch.

Restless - The title track has some ambient sounds, maybe a metro station or something similar going on in the background.  The tone here is significantly ‘brighter’ than dreamcipher, more dreamy ironically.  Everything has an ethereal feel to it, nothing except the beat has a real solid feel to it.  Everything else has either a wavy, or partially obscured feel.  I really like the contrast.
This may be the most pure dreampunk track on the whole album so far, but it immediately stands out as Cryo’s work because of the percussion.  The song also has two really distinct parts.  The first two minutes are pretty much an ambient piece consisting of all the elements that make up the second part but they are more like floating entities going past the observer.  The second half the beat acts as a grounding agent and things seem to have a bit more order to them.  
The way the song is constructed is really well done.  Another very strong track.  

City Mist - The intro this time is ambient with some very active background noises… almost industrial sounding.  After the first set of chord progressions the melody begins to take shape and its… hopeful in tone? I’m not sure but it certainly is interesting.  There’s two parts, the very chill background pads and then the hyperactive industrial sounds over it.  Again the contrast is really well done and very cool.
Once things really start to get going the track has really doubled down on this hyperactive chill sound.  Everything is so relaxing except the beat and the few elements that are on top.  I really dig it… especially when the beat almost goes into full breakbeat/dnb mode.  It teases it a few times but never fully goes there, it would be fun if it did but I can understand why he decided not to do it.  

Midnight - Man what an end to the album.  It wraps everything up so nicely.  Its got a very strong synth presence and much less dreamy than a lot of the other tracks because of that.  But man the use of vocals on here both male and female are next level.  The call and answer segments are back from dreamcipher and it's  a great callback.  
It's certainly the most active track without percussion, especially after the 2 minute mark where everything pics up.  I wonder if the segmented parts of the song are representative of the album as a whole.  The first part of the album has more ambience and subtle tracks to it whereas the second half of the album has a more active and diverse feel, with Disused Sector acting as the gateway between the two halves.  Something to ask Cryo.  The whole thing just leaves the album with a nice warmth and ambience.  Perfect way to end the album.  

Overall - Oh man what a ride.  The whole album takes ambient dreampunk and turns it on its head by the inclusion of superbly done 2-step percussion and structures.  The use of vocals throughout the album adds an additional layer that gives the album character and depth.  This whole endeavour really feels like its a complete album.  I don’t know if it's narrative driven but the collection of compositions here really feel like they belong together.  This is a wonderfully composed album and I am greatly looking forward to reviewing it.

Interview

 
1) Do you consider yourself a dreampunk artist? Your sound has many elements of the genre however you clearly have a 2-step/future garage angle to as well.  If yes why? If no, why?
Yes, I do. I'd been following dreampunk ever since Birth Of A New Day was released and as the years passed I noticed more and more different approaches to that style of music, the most apparent one being Remember's 'Route Back Home'. The two main reasons for the fusion of 2-step with dreampunk is; "Nobody said I couldn't." and, I thought it was the most logical progression of the sound. Artists like Remember and HKE and especially Sangam were massive Burial and/or Sorrow fans, and a lot of Burial's work sounds like it'd slot in perfectly into a dreampunk mix. It took a lot of trial and error for it to finally work, though!

2) On restless I hear a lot of different genres coming into the sound.  What we're your influences on the album and how did they affect your song writing process if at all?
Definitely Burial and the rest of the Future Garage scene. Vacant especially, his tracks are amazing. I also adore Oneohtrix Point Never's work, his Rifts trilogy albums are incredible, and I guess that's why the tracks sound 'progressive' and 'sprawling' as well. When it came to songwriting, I'd start off with one thing; a pad, a bassline or even a drum pattern and I'd try and build this short loop out of these elements. Then I'd try and segue in and out of that loop, it being the section that anchors the whole song together. Sometimes, I just winged it and made music without even thinking about what I was doing, and sometimes I'd get lost in the loops I made and I'd keep expanding them out, forgetting how long they were!

3) There is a good mix of ambient tracks vs. beat oriented tracks on Restless.  Was this intentional or just a natural evolution while you were writing the album?  How do you decide to add percussion to a track vs. keeping it out?
It did sort of come naturally, and I also wanted a healthy amount of beat-oriented and ambient tracks on the album. As for adding drums, honestly it depended on how I felt. Tracks like Midnight and Disused Sector were gonna have beats but I figured they worked better as ambient tracks. Less going on, easier to take care of. I knew straight away that Steel and Dreamcipher were definitely going to have beats. By the time I was writing City Mist, I thought that all the 135-140 songs would get a bit tiring so I decided to speed up the BPM to 165. I wanted to keep the album varied and fresh, and maybe even surprise the listener!


4)  The melodies and ambient portions of the album are relaxing and have a chill vibe to them.  The percussion on the other hand is dynamic and forceful.  This is a staple of your albums.  How did you arrive at this style?
I guess it all started when I was making Fractured City for Hanging Garden, and I noticed that the combination and contrast of the melodies and the drums worked really well. So I decided that was going to be my sort of "sound" if you will, and with each subsequent release, I wanted to refine that sound. Better synths, better samples, tighter drum rhythms.


5)  At the end of Ishii there is 20 seconds of silence before the next track.  This is the only point on the album that has that kind of a break.  Is there a reason for this silence or am I just looking too deep into things?
That was my fault. I must have accidentally rendered the 20 seconds of silence after the fade out because, what I do sometimes is I just leave long gaps of atmospheres in my tracks, like rainfall or whatever.

6)  In my notes I noted that the album seems like it has two halfs, the first five tracks are generally speaking more ambient and relaxed.  The last five tracks are more diverse and active.  Should this be viewed as two halves of a whole or was this just the order that the tracks sounded good?  If it is intentional, why were the tracks ordered like that?
Yeah, I figured that Disused Sector was the tipping point between the 'dreamy' half of the album and the 'dark' half of the album. Because then after making that track, I made Dreamcipher and I wanted something heavy and oppressive to contrast against the sappy, romantic mood that the first half was locked in. The album flows really well, in my opinion.

7) What type of message were you trying to communicate musically through this album? Is there an overarching narrative, or is this more of a collection of individual songs?
I wanted to make this loose concept album about not being able to sleep in this Neo-Tokyo-esque city and, since you have nothing better to do, you wander around the place. But you're still half-asleep so everything looks and sounds warped and you're very 'distant' from what's happening around you. I'm admittedly a bit of a hermit, I don't really go out much. And I'm not a big fan of crowded cities, as it gives me sensory overload and it makes me really uncomfortable.


8) Throughout the album there is a lot of use of vocals with distorted effects on them.  They add a lot of depth and character to the album, solidifying the sound and making it sound like a whole album.  I can't understand what the lyrics (if any) are though.  If there are lyrics was the listener ever supposed to understand what they are saying?  If not then why?
Instead of focusing on what the vocals were saying, I was more focusing on the texture and the tone and the rhythm of the vocals. I added CamelCrusher to them (which is a really good plugin) and caked them in distortion so they sounded all weird and out-of-focus, and drenched them in reverb for that added 'distant' feel. There are no lyrics to the songs but, you could make up your own I suppose. There's snippets here and there like "Loving you..." on Steel and "Alone..." on Disused Sector and Restless and "In the night..." on Midnight. It's all 'Lost In Translation', like you're in a foreign country and people are talking at you, but you can't understand a word they're saying so you try and prescribe your own meaning to what they say.


9) What type of equipment was used on this album? (you don't have to answer this if you don't want to)
Alot of the synths were made in Massive. I love using Massive, it's a great VST. What I like to do is add an LFO to the FM dial, and what it does is add this shifting texture to the pads which I really like. The basslines were made using both Massive and Reaktor 9, but it's not too complicated. It's either one wavetable or a detuned sawtooth, haha. I remember while making Dreamcipher I added this low pass filter to the bass and I had it going in an upwards ramp with high resonance in triplet timing. I then added an OTT (another great and useful plugin) and what came out of it was the heaviest bassline I'd ever created. It reminded me of early 2000s dubstep, like something you'd hear in a Skream or Loefah record.
I've since upgraded to Serum and while I like Serum, I always come back around to Massive.

10)  How would you say your songwriting and overall sound as Cryosauna has evolved over time?  Is the dreampunk angle an intentional one or something you just fell into?
When I first started the CRYOSAUNA project, dreampunk wasn't on my mind. I screwed around with lo-fi downtempo and really awful OPN ripoffs for a while until I thought to myself "no-ones really made dreampunk with a 2-step beat. I wonder what that would sound like?" I thought it was unique enough, and so, The Murky Lights and Fractured City were made. As the albums came by I was still falling back on progressive downtempo, proper old-school dreampunk stuff, but I think Restless was the album where I fully realized my own sound, the fusion of 2-step and future garage and dreampunk. It was perfected on that album, and I'm really proud of it. 'City Mist' also signalled another direction I'm heading in but, I guess the Livewire 2 set sort of spoiled it, haha.

11)  How did you get involved with dreampunk?
After releasing a few albums for Net Century (RIP), I was persuaded by someone to contact Panta Rhei about releasing Hua Hin (a ghost tech album I had made at the time) on Pure Life. I think Fractured City was also considered. It never really worked out and they were instead released on Hanging Garden. But Panta Rhei loved both of them, and I was surprised! I was then invited into the Pure Life group chat and it was there I met people like Elegance of The Damned and CMD094 and the rest of the Pure Life roster. I got to chatting with them, sending stuff around and having a good time. That also acted as a sort of springboard to Dream Catalogue and I got in touch with the now general manager of the label, Shima and eventually, HKE. Getting into contact with Pure Life and their associates really allowed me to flourish as a producer.

12) You have one of the more distinctive sounds in the genre (if you want to call it that), contributing to the growth and expanding the horizons of what we consider part of the movement.  How do you see it evolving in the future?
Thank you, that was the whole idea of the fusion of those styles. I am a bit of a zeitgeist for experimentation and seeing where I could take dreampunk. There's this album by a producer named Shenzhen Global and it is the most chaotic dreampunk album I've ever heard. It's like a really bad acid trip, haha. Dreampunk still has a lot of areas left to explore, in my opinion. There's so many different angles that people have approached it from. CMD and Twin Galaxxies' retro synths, Elegance and Wei's techno approach, Wuso's cinematic scores, w baer's trap beats...just so many angles. VILL4IN, No Problema and New Motion's releases too are all so interesting! Really, Dreampunk can go either way! As for me, well, you'll just have to keep an eye on things.

13) Is there anything else you would like to say about Restless or your musical projects in general?
I am incredibly proud of Restless, as I think it shows my growth as a producer and as an artist. I'd like to thank Panta Rhei for the work he did on the physical release of Aurasearch and Restless AND for his work on the Twitch stream! I'd also like to thank the people who I showed the demos to, and who kept me making music! There are many more dreampunk excursions from me so, keep a lookout on my stuff!