It would be wrong to think of electronic music as something that merely powers the clubland dancefloors; that might have once been its most obvious application, certainly in the early post-punk days, but those days are long gone. Today’s electronic music can come in the form of subtle synthwave, sophisticated orchestral sweeps, downtempo understatement, dance-infused breakbeats, and much more. All of which is found in Rust Mountain, the debut release from Aptøsrs.
The word epic is often overused, but it is ideally suited here, with labels such as anthemic, cinematic and sonically eloquent following closely behind. It is a track that evolves through more moods and melodies in its short duration than some artists could barely cover in a whole album, rising from brooding bass lines and gashing beats through more beat-driven, orchestral weight to collapse under its weight into piano-led lulls. From here, the music rises again and heads for its final destination of sky-searing crescendos before fading into the night.
It feels as if you have just experienced a long epic movie via the medium of its soundtrack, and that is the whole point. But then Paul Terry, the man behind Aptøsrs, is a music award-nominated composer, so manipulating the listener’s emotions through sound obviously comes second nature to him.
As the first taste and opening track of a soon-to-drop album, Elders, the only question is this. If he can take us so far with just this one track and guide our moods so elegantly and effortlessly, what sort of sonic journey will a whole eight tracks of his music take us on? I guess we will find out on 29th March.