Everyone was saying that Mat Zo was working on something big, and the hype he was building was collaborating that story. This brilliant musician pulled out all the stops for this album, something expected after Damage Control came out in 2013.
He has been releasing tracks on his soundcloud but the only two to make it to the album are Sinful and Soul Food.
Everyone concerns over the sophomore album by their favorite artists; concerned that they are not going to live up to the hype from their “freshman year.” Classically trained, Matan Zohar has always enjoyed including his background when it comes to the electronic music that he produces. He changes his style for every track, making sure no two tracks are similar. Vocal samples, instrumentals and synths vary constantly in each track. This gives the 12 song album both upbeat tracks and tracks that are on the “darker” side.
Zohar told Billboard, “It’s a story about the future,” he says. “How technology will make everything immediate, yet as we reach the singularity, other problems will arise.” And that, “I wanted it to be like a score for a movie that doesn’t exist,” he says. “No matter how hard I tried making that score, it just turned into something very personal. In the end, it’s just a story about my life over the last three years.”
Below you can find the full track list, a Spotify playlist of the album, a track by track review, and some tweets about the album from Zohar. Support Mat Zo by buying the album on iTunes, Beatport, Google Play, or Amazon Music.
- Order Out of Chaos
- The Enemy (Feat. Sinead Egan)
- Sinful (Feat.I See MONSTAS)
- Patterns Emerging
- Killing Time
- Smacked up on Jack
- Ruffneck Bad Boy (VIP)
- Lights Out
- Soul Food
- Stereo No Aware
- Too Late (Feat. Sinead Egan)
- The Last Transmission
Order out of Chaos
This intro track epitomizes Mat Zo’s idea that Self Assemble is Futuristic and Dystopian. From the name to the instrumental-only style he takes, Order of Chaos gives a look into what Mat Zo feels will be the future.
The Enemy (feat. Sinead Egan)
The first track that Sinead Egan is featured on, her vocals add a beautiful house feel to the track. The song sounds upbeat and relaxing, but to listening to the lyrics, this track is saying much more.
Sinful (Feat. I See Monstas)
One of the two singles that Mat Zo released for purchase and Soundcloud listeners, Sinful is probably the most upbeat song on the album. But again, it has deeper meaning when you listen to the vocals of I See Monstas. I See Monstas is singing, hinting to losing something or not being what he wants. Could it be he is hinting towards how Mat Zo currently feels about the electronic music industry?
Patterns Emerging
This song is a short instrumental track. It holds the futuristic feel with a fully computerized set of synths.
Killing Time
With vocal-like samples and Mat Zo-styled instrumentals, this song gives the listener a minute to vibe out. Again, being almost futuristic in the sounds, Mat Zo could almost be paining a picture of someone traveling in the future.
Smacked Up on Jack
With very little happening during the start of this track, you don’t know what to expect. About a third of the way through the track come a set of vocals, where a man lists his mental illnesses; bipolar, schizophrenia, paranoia; but ends with saying “I am crazy, but I am a nice crazy guy”. From there, the instrumentals give a feel of being in the Middle East while going back to 90’s hip-hop. The diversity has to do with how Mat Zo feels about himself. Reaching into his roots as well as acknowledging his mental illness and the perception others have about mental illnesses.
Ruffneck Bad Boy (VIP)
Very heavy in dubstep-style beats, I feel as though this track is what Mat Zo was referencing when he tweeted “Making a trance/hard dubstep hybrid track” (shown below). A genre that Mat Zo doesn’t normally work in, I believe he did very well.
Lights Out
Mat Zo has always been very interested in artists like Daft Punk and The Chemical Brothers. I feel as though with this track, he is paying tribute to them. He doesn’t often go for the techno style that was part of the “old school” dance scene. But here he does a wonderful job putting his own twist on it.
Soul Food
The second of the two tracks Mat Zo released, this was the standard that fans held for the rest of the album. Going back to the style expected from Zo, this song is a very smooth blend of house and nu-disco.
Stereo No Aware
At the start of this song, I thought I was listening to the soundtrack for a 80’s videogame. Then it develops into a tempo that pushes forward. Similar to the tracks that Mat Zo first started putting out, well before he released Damage Control. The end of the track is trance, a genre that Mat Zo used to be heavily influenced by, but moved away from as Nu-Disco and house became more part of his style.
Too Late (Feat. Sinead Egad)
Bringing Sinead Egad back, Too Late is the last full-length song on the album. Starting off with acoustic cords and Egad’s vocals, the song is given a very emotional start, giving a look into the was sadness can be created by an artist. About a minute and a half in, the track becomes much more electronic, leaving the acoustic sound and bringing in percussion synths, Egad still continues with the sad lyrics. The track ends with a dramatic feel; Egad’s lyrics are ending as Mat Zo drops emotion-filled beats that give the idea of strain and the feel of dis-phoria the album started with.
The Last Transmission
Filled with piano chords and what sounds like an old-school radio, Mat Zo plays a track that truly gives the feel of the end to the album. The sounds get louder and then immediately stops. Hopefully this isn’t the end to Mat Zo music.
https://twitter.com/Mat_Zo/status/707057881921691650
https://twitter.com/mat_zo/status/711953292348108800
https://twitter.com/mat_zo/status/713119216405073920
https://twitter.com/mat_zo/status/713421507116961792