Despite the euphoric and upbeat vibe that runs through Modal Split‘s music, there is also a slight whiff of melancholy and pathos at its heart. It is just such a clever balancing act that sets songs like Feral Feeling apart from the run-of-the-mill dance-pop pack.
It’s undeniably an astute blend of bubbling, synth-pop vibes and electronic clubland beats, but it strives to be more than just the usual glossy, throwaway piece of pop pap and instead sets its sights higher. The result is a song that shimmers with dancefloor gloss and shivers with a more whistful and reflective lyricism. Well, it still deals with the usual celebrations of love, or at least longing, but it chooses its words more carefully, more poetically than most.
Dance culture is not known for its moments of sonic high art, nor should it be, that isn’t its purpose, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t find a happy medium between groovesome music that ticks all the boxes for an enjoyable night out and something that comes from a more artful and poised place. And if you wonder what that sounds like, Feral Feeling is not a bad place to start.
It does everything you expect of digitally derived, infectious music, but Modal Split is smart enough to understand that not everything, even something as transient as dance music, has to exist at the lowest common denominator. Feral Feeling certainly doesn’t—far from it.
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