INDIGO

With releases on Hypercolour, Brownswood and Tectonic already under his belt and with the massive Ayahuasca / The Root dropping on Exit Records earlier in 2012, it’s safe to say that Indigo is an artist who’s star is most certainly on the rise. Since his first release back in 2008 on his own label, Mindset Recordings, interest has steadily built in a young producer who refuses to compromise in his approach to music and now Indigo, aka Liam Blackburn, steps up to drop his debut EP on Apollo records.

From the very first strains of Sea of Stars, the opening track on the EP, the listener is immersed in Indigo’s trademark washed out soundscape of faded sonics and terse atmospherics which immediately draw you into his aural universe.

The second track on the EP is Azha opens with a minute and a half of tense ambient noise with flashes of rain and disembodied vocal sounds before a steady kick drum enters the fray, anchoring the track and providing propulsion. Indigo is an expert in the art of the tempered arrangement, creating a tension that feels organic, never forced.

Next up is Sunrise, a spooky, mysterious slice of post dubstep with a huge lurching sub bass and scuttling rhythm patterns complemented by chiming arps that have something of the exorcist about them. Sunrise, as with all the tracks here, feels like the soundtrack to a dystopian sci-fi future, imbued with longing but, also, with a strange broken form of hope.

The EP closes with Keerthana, a deeply emotional piece, slowed down almost to a stop and with what sounds for all the world like deep sobs providing occasional off-beat percussion, against an intermittent vocal. The sadness is inescapable and embodied in every sound within the track, from the maudlin refrain of the reverb cloaked keys, to the hesitant drum that sounds tired with life.

It’s a great and unusual thing to hear an artist utilizing all the trappings of modern music production technology and yet creating music so timeless and universal in it’s ability to resonate with human emotion. With this EP, Indigo has transcended the confines of musical vogues and fashions and, in doing so, delivered a selection of music that seems set to stand the test of time and live on beyond the ever shortening lifespan of the vast majority of modern music.