This self titled debut EP from Melbourne producer Willow Beats is an exploration of the current sounds of contemporary electronic music, venturing into glitch, relaxed electronica and the harder sounds of dubstep.
The EP starts off with two fairly bass-heavy tracks, giving a tip of things to come. ‘From Under the Ground’ and ‘Sawtooth’ are glitchy electronic compositions with smooth female vocals, which midway through are chopped up and worked as another instrument amongst the deep bass and hard drums.
The one song that definitely took me by surprise, both for the song in itself and the way that it works so well, is a cover of the David Bowie classic ‘Space Oddity’. Led into by the chord progression of the original, effected vocals make way for panned blips, drips, glitches and zips. It is precisely this combination of original and re-workings within the track that lends it its unique character.
The final two tracks, ‘Grom the Betrayer’ and ‘Franky’, pay much more attention to the current trends in dubstep although with more sinister intricacies, and are significantly more heavy than the first three. ‘Grom the Betrayer’ is an upbeat electro dubstep tune made for the dancefloor, with a driving rhythm and grinding bassline. Flourishes of vocals and video game-like noises add to its party aesthetic. ‘Franky’ in particular has a haunting synth progression set behind the gritty and vicious bassline, providing a stark, yet suitable backdrop. While it is a highly diverse collection of songs, the one binding trait found in all of the tracks is the incredible clarity and seamless production, something not often found in a debut release, but unmistakable in this EP.
Joshua Millar
