Although MatAre has made a name for himself blending the more pop-infused, polished end of the post-punk sound into music suited to the current age, his new one, ‘Dancing With the Spirits,’ reminds us that dark wave and gothic worlds existed on the other side of a very thin sonic veil from the world that he is usually influenced by. And so, this single is perhaps the sound of what happens when the veil is lifted and the sonic colours, the multi-hued and the monochrome, are allowed to run, to blend and mix and merge freely.
‘Dancing With the Spirits’ is typically of his driven and accessible sound, but also dark and dramatic, music made under the neon glow of the clubland floor rather than the natural light of the living world. Synthy and seductive, it is vibrant and vivacious, grace being powered along by groove, sonic rituals played out before the digital gods, melodies shimmering in the dark like moonlight on broken glass.
MatAre is usually a solitary music maker, but perhaps this slight shift in musical location comes from the more collaborative process at work here. South African drummer Glenn Welman provides the rhythmic momentum that makes this song so addictive, whilst Argentinian vocalist Denisse Ferrara weaves her poised, perfectly suited ethereal vocals into this dark and delicious mix. Two heads, as they say, are better than one; three…well, you know!
So what we have is the best of both worlds. The music of the MatAre that you know and love and the sound of him moving beyond his usual sonic comfort zone, which all musicians know they must do to keep the ball rolling. And this ball is certainly rolling and doing so deftly, decisively, and in this case, glimpsed glaring and glimmering like a mirror ball in the dark.
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