The best part about writing for IAAS Music has to be how well-fed my ears have been. When I first opened our submission pool, I was floored by all the music that was up for grabs: soulful ballads, unrelenting rock, and even bold avant-garde music, you name it!  

I got excited about many of these tunes, but couldn’t seem to produce a think-piece of article-length for a good portion of them – which is a pity, because I’d still like to share my thoughts, no matter how brief. Thankfully, that’s exactly what the Mixed-Bag Mixtape is for!

Without further ado, here's our second shot at the Mixed-Bag Mixtape! I hope the nuggets of feedback here are of use to today’s featured artists.

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Luke Worthylake

I was taken by how effectually Borrow Your Heart sets its tone from the very first second. We open with a hard-hitting active drum groove – unyielding yet not harsh, forward-driving yet hefty. I got the impression of an aural metaphor, of pressing forward to keep pace with the day-to-day despite the burdens that may weigh on us. 

The percussion is overlaid by high-pitched, airy synths that fade in and out. Evocative of a certain ethereality, the accompanying atmosphere is imbued with an introspective pensiveness. The aural metaphor now elevates to that of reflecting upon one’s burdens as we march onward with the proceeds of life – in other words, moving on.

True to form, Luke Worthylake’s Borrow Your Heart subject matter is that of “the growth you go through after a breakup.” More specifically, trying to reconcile between recognising that a relationship was unsustainable while yearning to return to it regardless.

This tension was most potent during the tune’s recurring hook. Here, the lyrics most explicitly crave a reunion, no matter the detriment, while acknowledging that any satiation would prove only temporary:

You can tear me apart, I know you like that
I was there at the start, I’m on the right track
Can I borrow your heart, I’ll bring it right back

The instrumentation does its part to punch you in the gut, too! A supporting guitar line plays during these lines, possessing an expressive, tender quality likely realized by playing on a lower string than required. Such a technique colors the guitar timbre by dampening its brightness and upping its warmth. This, accompanied by liberal vibrato, really sells the fragile, wounded nature of the persona behind the nonchalant rap cover-up.

I really only have one thing to nitpick, and it’s that some syncopation or running semiquavers would greatly benefit the flow. The second verse is in dire need of rhythmic switch-ups, rather than reusing the pre-established lyrical grooves in the first verse. As it stands, a listening ear is prone to grow bored with the rhythmic repetition of the rap.

That said, I really do commend just how poignant this track is. With a little work on rhythmic variation, I can see Worthylake’s works consolidating a significant amount of staying power.

You can find Luke Worthylake on Instagram and Spotify.

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Yearwalker

Ziz is but a mere component of Yearwalker’s ambitious Agrippa album: “26 imaginary beasts, spirits and deities from cultures all around the world will be revealed one at a time, in reverse, Z to A.” We’re really hitting the ground running with this opening track.

First off, I have to gush about Ziz’s modal quality. If you’ll allow me to nerd out a little, a mode is a type of scale with a unique color derived from its tonal centre and permutation of intervals within the scale. Even if the musical significance of a mode may be hard to grasp, you can definitely hear the special flavor of Ziz’s mode for yourself. Head over to listen to the single on YouTube and listen for the start of the lyrics at 0:24:

Your ankles rest

The syllable “-kles” imparts a much brighter color compared to everything that came before, doesn’t it? That’s the effect of the mode! It’s an aural color that’s criminally underutilised, so Yearwalker’s already earning points in my book.

Second off, the soundscape! The use of reverb to blend the various guitar timbres into an immersive surround sound crafts a pensive, yet grand atmosphere befitting Ziz’s divinity. I can definitely envision myself basking reverently in sovereign glory to this tune.

Once again, I do have a bit to nitpick. While the heavily reverberated instrumentation works in the piece’s favor, the vocals currently get lost in it. Crisper vocals would provide a stark contrast against the ambient backdrop – their brightness would help channel the awe the track aims to convey.

And alas, the sections where a synth plays its instrumental solo come across as rather weak. This is mostly due to two reasons:

1) The synth is rather nasally. It comes across as a whine more than a grandiose call.

2) The solos aren’t melodic. They change pitch at stiff, sparse intervals, and the intervals they cross aren’t musically intuitive either. On the whole, these solos aren’t memorable and come across as rather awkward.

That being said, Ziz’s color and soundscape are so strong that these two points barely make a dent in my impression of it. I never fail to feel as though I’m ascending to a higher plane whenever the chorus drops. Truly magical.

I’m really excited to see where the rest of Agrippa goes! I’ll be keeping an eye on their Instagram for sure.

You can also find Yearwalker on Spotify here.

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Shy Pilot

You know that feeling when there’s a piece of art that appeals perfectly to your personal tastes, such that you couldn’t find any fault with it even if you tried? That’s me with Shy Pilot’s Needle.

What captivated me from the very start was Needle’s pacing. The velocity the track establishes from the outset is nothing short of exhilarating. This isn’t because the first few drum hits are rapid, but rather because these are immediately followed by a brief period without any hits at all. What it induces is a fleeting window of weightlessness. Then, as soon as it began, it’s cut short by more incoming rapid percussion strokes, like we’ve been pulled down by gravity, only to drive toward another momentary mid-air suspension. It’s seamless tension manipulation on a microscale that takes place within a second each time. Reminds me of a roller-coaster. (It was because of this that I initially thought the piece’s title was Shy Pilot and not Needle! That’s how vivid it felt!)

It happens on a macroscale too! Once the verse kicks in, the drum hits are abruptly less frequent, and we’re anxious to return to the faster pace. The kicker’s in the first few lyrics:

Moving, oh so slowly,

Ah, don’t you love word painting? Once the first verse ends, we jump straight back into the oscillation between rapid hits and brief weightlessness. Really keeps you on your toes!

Pacing aside, this song is actually a good example of the crisper vocals that Ziz might benefit from. Notably, the vocals in Needle do employ a significant amount of reverb, but what’s important is that the reverb settings are different from those of the instruments, such that it almost sounds like it’s recorded from a different room. This helps listeners appreciate the harmonies and small inflections that Shy Pilot’s vocalist performs, since they can be distinguished from the background.

Such an arrangement allows every component of the track to actualize its full potential. Personally, the expansive breadth of the soundscape, in tandem with the colorful vocal harmonies and the ebb and flow of the drum groove, evoked in me a sense of euphoria. Like an exhilarating day you spend with all your best friends, where the most valuable part was the warmth of their company.

Anyhow, I look forward to playing this song on loop for the next few days. Or weeks. Or months. Join me here!

I’ll be keeping up with their Instagram too, to see what they’ll be up to. (You should too!)

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Conclusion: IAAS Mixed-Bag Mixtape #2

And that’s a wrap! I hope this article was as eye-opening for you to read as it was for me to write.

Any commentary here is more brief than what would normally constitute a review, as necessitated by the format of the Mixed-Bag Mixtape. So, if you’d like to add on to the conversation, do drop a comment below! All you have to do is create an account on iaasmusic.com, and you'll be ready to chime in.

If you're an indie artist looking for a chance to be featured on the site, send along your music submissions for our review here!