Instinctus – Life Minder (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

This second single from the forthcoming Omnitus EP is much more than just a piece of music, much more than a song in the traditional sense. Music that doesn’t rely on lyrics makes for a wholly different and fairly special experience. It’s fair to say that sometimes, lyrics can get in the way. They lead you directly to the conclusion that the artist intended for you. Where’s the fun in that? Surely it is better to let the music take the listener to whichever place they feel drawn to, even if that place isn’t even on the creator’s original musical map.

In fact, it does raise an interesting point. When it comes to listening to an instrumental song, or any song for that matter, is it the originator who decides what it is about, or is it the listener? If it is the latter, then a song can be all things to all people, the meanings of which are left to the listener to decipher and decide. That’s an idea I like a lot.

“Instinctus,” therefore, like all lyricless music, is an open book. We can only be guided by its musical form, here built from digital raga beats and shuffling grooves, synth-driven riffs and gentle, neo-classical piano motifs, a lilting and liquid piece, ambient and cinematic, ebbing and flowing across the musical dance-scape.

But beyond the mere sound of the track, we find it inspires feelings and even fleeting glimpses of less tangible emotions as the song leads us back towards more primal memories and distant awakenings, an opening of the more creative, intuative, and ancient side of the brain rather than the logical and modern half which runs most aspects of our life.

“Instinctus” is a reminder of the power of music, that its true worth is found far beyond entertainment, and that when used deftly, it is key to the essence of who we are by enabling us to remember who we once were.