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sadspacelord landed in our submission queue with a clearly stated interest in gaining the perspective of someone’s first impression of their sound – which is, of course, the bread and butter of what we do at IAAS Music.

I was very keen to check out this Pop artist from Zugdidi in Georgia – a city in a country that I know nothing about. I’m feeling adequately blind and uninfluenced at the point of checking this track out… and will spoil now that it was good enough to warrant the review you now find yourself reading!

Aware that I was about to listen to pop, I had adjusted my expectations accordingly. I hoped to hear a commercially viable sound; in my opinion that’s the easy part!

The song starts with well-produced synths introducing the sound, rhythmically strong and set at tempo to allow plenty of space. After 25 seconds, the track properly begins and vocals start. Very quickly, a frequent pop-music trope is utilised – the casual “spoken word” singing, which I’ll be honest, I usually strongly dislike. However, like all techniques and sounds, they can be tools that, when utilised well, enhance a song. I found this to be the case in the early, especially with the very brief lines that weren’t performatively sung. The vocal performance throughout is excellent and compliments the sound of the track and genre well, while being captured in the studio to a high standard.

One element that I think is often overlooked by Pop artists is lyrical and emotional depth. This is where certain artists break away from the pack for me. Olivia Dean, Adele or even more storyteller-styled mainstream artists like Lily Allen have always been more compelling than artists that feel like they’re written by piecing together buzzwords.

From Time to Time introduces sadspacelord as an artist not shying away from deep topics, weaving impressive levels of emotional depths without feeling contrived. For myself, it felt incredibly relatable – opening up and being vulnerable, but still shielded by a layer of minimalization and defensive sarcasm. (I feel seen.)

You’re telling me to just relax
But I’m still terrified to sleep at night
Just kidding I’m alright
Out of mind and out of sight

I speak a lot about dynamic variation in songwriting. I truly believe it's one of the most important considerations when creating a track or album. Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty that changes throughout the single – however, comparatively, the level of dynamics is fairly static, maintaining the same level of “punch” across the entire recording.

That said, there’s something truly captivating about how the artist tells their story. It’s a brilliant example of keeping your listener engaged, and how big changes in instrumental make up aren’t the only method of achieving this.

This track is a great example of why I love to listen to every one of our submissions. There’s so many times where I discover an artist from a genre I wouldn’t typically listen to, or find someone utilising techniques in a manner that recontextualises them and shows the appropriate use. I learn things every day as a creator and consumer of music, and sadspacelord’s single From Time to Time is a brilliant and captivating lesson on songwriting and the creation of a unique musical experience within the commercial pop world.

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You can find sadspacelord on Spotify and on TikTok.