After keeping quiet for most of 2014, French bass maniacs Dirtyphonics have just released their first EP: ‘Write Your Future’. The EP is diverse, with Hard Rock, Dubstep, Drum and Bass and Trap elements, however the one common characteristic of the EP is a tonne of bass – and then some.
Somehow Dirtyphonics keep topping themselves with their releases, and this is also shown on the EP’s first track ‘Power Now’, with vocals by The Qemists’ Matt Rose. It’s a fusion of Hard Rock and Drumstep executed to perfection, which is extremely hard to find. The song starts off with a relatively laid back guitar riff before it builds up to the point where you’re headbanging and screaming “Who’s got the power now?”, and it hasn’t even dropped yet. The first drop is Dubstep that makes you want to headbang harder, and then tops itself as it switches to double time Drum n Bass. It cools off for a bit and then unleashes in the form of straight up Drum n Bass that, yet again, tops the previous parts of the song. Most EDM songs calm down and finish after the second drop, and Power Now fools you into thinking that it’s doing just that, until Dirtyphonics drop one of the best guitar solos in EDM, ever. And I’m not taking that statement lightly – all the guitars in the song were played live. If you want to show some metalheads EDM, this is the song that you show them – it’s one of a kind.
Now that I’m done heaping praise on Power Now, I’ll get on to the rest of the EP. Next up is Dirtyphonics’ first ever full Trap song, with ƱZ, the Zhu of Trap music, and Trinidad James on vocals. Hustle Hard, well, hustles hard. It oozes heavy (T)Rap vibes as James tells you to put your f**king hands up before the drop, which makes you do just that. It’s well suited to a festival-style atmosphere, but the low brass and sub bass is a bit darker, suiting Dirtyphonics’ style.
Free Fall follows, with 12th Planet and Julie Hardy, and has a very French sound to begin with under Hardy’s vocals. The drop is somewhat similar to Hustle Hard, except it’s Dubstep, goes harder and has even more bass. The beginning of the second drop is held for a little bit (similarly to their last Dubstep song ‘Dirty’), which keeps the recycled first drop fresh enough to go hard to again.
The EP finishes with Since You’ve Been Gone, a power ballad of sorts. Matt Rose is on vocals again and leads into a Drum n Bass drop, which isn’t as hard as the rest of the EP, but in relative terms is still bass-heavy. It’s easily danceable but not as easy to headbang to as the rest of the EP. A rare emotional verse separates the two drops, and after it finally breaks down you’re left entirely satisfied with a quality EP from the bass trio, and are ready to adjust your ears to normal life, where there’s less bass and things aren’t as loud.
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