Porter Robinson – Language
2012 has seen America reaffirm its love of all things electronic. From Skrillex to Deadmau5, there’s a whole scale revival (now widely termed EDM), which encompasses, seemingly, all genres, and is being pushed forward by raw young talent like 20-year old Porter Robinson. His new single ‘Language’ is the evolution that has happened in the post-dubstep soundscape, with evocative vocals, glitchy electro sounds and some cut-up, but all against a pounding and very fat house beat. There is a pleasant piano line that leads you through the tune, and the side chained synths give all the bass and energy that is missing in much music of a similar oeuvre.
WATCH: http://vimeo.com/46779514
Without a way to describe the music that he made, when Porter was first setting up his MySpace page he decided to describe himself as being ‘complextro’ – or complex electro. “I never meant it as a serious thing,” he says. “But it really caught on – and now it seems to be being used more to describe glitchy, electro bass music.
The success of ‘Language’ is also down to the beautiful video that was made to accompany it. “It’s this weird, ethereal, pretty, dream like thing. It’s meant to be pretty,” he says. “My mom watched it and she cried, and my brothers watched it and they cried. I really wanted to give people goosebumps and make them feel something. It’s the most meaningful song that I’ve written, so I’m glad that it’s achieved its intended effect.”
Porter’s prodigious talent has meant he’s been snapped up by the likes of Tiesto and Skrillex to support them on tour, but hasn’t had much of a chance to put together an album as yet. “I’ll produce an album when the music is there. In the last six months I’ve completed four songs, but I’ve shelved three of them. I want to keep the standard of the music really high, so when it comes out it can be something I can super proud of,” he says.
“I’m going to take some time out to go work on some music now, I’m going to go home, I’ve got a new studio to work in. I just haven’t had time to work on music – I’ve been touring too much. First world problems!”
Porter is also good friends with Skrillex, and says he has received a lot of great advice from him. “He told me some great advice that I always try and pass on to other people. He said you should never feel the need to pander as an artist. You should never do what you think your audience wants you to do. All the regrets in my career have come about as a result of doing what I thought I should do, not what I really wanted to do. When I do the music that is most compelling to me, then my fans are always right there with me.”
And with tracks as good as ‘Language’, they’re likely to stay there.
