Parisian label Antinote provides a welcome home for those still trying their hand at new wave, synth pop and downtempo electronica in 2016. Paris native Raphael Top-Secret is better known as a DJ, whose Soundcloud sets attest to hours spent digging to find some previously unheard gems from the aforementioned genres. Therefore, it seems fitting that Antinote have opened their doors to invite Raphael to release a three track collaborative EP with Nelson Bishop, from which we premiere the title track ‘Love So High’.
The instrumental for ‘Love So High’ is an fine piece of tropical synth pop by itself, building a combination of whistles, pattering percussions and noodly synth lines over a low-swung dub beat. However, the magic of the song is in a baritone vocal that sounds like a heartbroken Ian Curtis trapped on a desert island. The pain in the lines “break me up / break me down”, fascinatingly contrasts with the effervescence of the instrumental, painting a more sinister picture than the skip in the step of the instrumentation initially suggests.
The instrumental for ‘Love So High’ is an fine piece of tropical synth pop by itself, building a combination of whistles, pattering percussions and noodly synth lines over a low-swung dub beat. However, the magic of the song is in a baritone vocal that sounds like a heartbroken Ian Curtis trapped on a desert island. The pain in the lines “break me up / break me down”, fascinatingly contrasts with the effervescence of the instrumental, painting a more sinister picture than the skip in the step of the instrumentation initially suggests.
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