With so many things in life, there seem to be unavoidable cycles – what once was hot fades away and comes back even hotter down the line. If you’ve been paying any attention to the music scene, retro sounding tracks have been making a huge comeback with producers shying away from hardened synths, big drops and pounding kicks and opting for minimal, muted sounds, open, airy textures and funky rhythms. Whether it is the artists that grew up in these eras paying homage, or people just realizing how fresh an emotional some of these sounds can be – we are 100% here for it.
One of our favorite new tunes comes in the form of a collaboration between London multi-instrumentalist Rationale and fast-rising Swedish-Iranian singer Ayelle, titled, “Hurts the Most”. With both artists immersed in music from a young age, the new collaboration is an absolute stunner, and showcases a high-level of precision, focus and execution on both ends. The beautiful, dreamy, smooth as hell duet sees both parties delivering vocals that perfectly compliment each other, swaying and soaring atop muted chords, mellow, bubbling basslines and rhythmic guitar – creating a slow-dance anthem that would without a doubt fill a dance floor at senior prom circa ‘92. With both artists already racking up major numbers, selling out shows and landing on the radar of tastemakers worldwide, there is no doubt that this new collaboration is an absolute gem.
About the tune, Rationale says, “I’m talking about what affects us the most in relationships. Every relationship I’ve ever had, it’s always been the same pattern—you have this wonderful honeymoon period where you want to bunk off work and spend all your time together. Then the other person (usually!) ends up changing. All the words they say from that point stick like glue and you can’t understand how you’ve got from that loving point, which was very clear, to the other place, which is bathed in confrontation and bitterness.”
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