Skrillex - SOMA
I got to thinking that, at some point in his career, Skrillex gave up the idea of doing a traditional album release schedule. The hype, the drop, the preceding tour, and endless barrage of press that accompanies the pre-and post-release schedules - the 6 AM morning zoo radio interviews, the corporate partnerships, a seemingly endless run of tour dates. But then I realized that, no, with the exception of his very first EP, the genre-and-culture-defining Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, Skrillex (aka Sonny Moore) has never done a traditional release. Bangarang, which would further define the conversation around modern dubstep and EDM in general, was a surprise. His highly anticipated debut album, Recess, was a surprise. So were his back-to-back decade-late follow-ups, Quest for Fire and Don’t Get Too Close, were surprises.
SOMA is the surprise follow-up to Skrillex’s (deep breath) F*CK U SKRILLEX YOU THINK UR ANDY WARHOL BUT UR NOT!! <3, which dropped out of nowhere on April Fool’s Day last year. Part fully fleshed out DJ mix, part invocation of “brostep”, and part continued exploration of genres well outside the confines of mainstream dance music, Moore managed to mix thirty-four songs in around forty-five minutes that were equal parts satirical and groovy. On SOMA, Skrillex continues his genre reinvention, taking world sounds and blending them with the subwoofer-shattering bass drops he’s become known for. He’s more subdued this time around, but the heavy moments still make their presence known.
The title track, a collaboration with Nitepunk, is an attention-grabbing opener punctuated by high-pitched bongos that explodes into a festival-ready bass thumper. Single “Thistle” continues leaning further into techno, as does the Chris Lake & RHR collab “É o Bonde”, perfect for those sweaty nights on the dance floor. “Tranki” finds Moore teaming with Tracey, Taichu and Anita B Queen for a trippy, trap-infused, rap-laced entry. Closing track “Diwali” brings similar energy, which finds rapper Naisha delivering her glitched-out vocal tracks before improvising, breaking character, and laughing. The whole thing is kept on the record as she delivers tongue-in-cheek lines.
The most interesting thing about Skrillex is not just how he uses sound, but how he chops up the pieces, reuses things, and makes a noise - whether it’s absolutely blissful or cacaphonous- and transforms it into something that’s not only palatable but danceable. “Smoke”, a track that is sure to up the ante on any festival dance floor this summer, features clips from the Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites EP track “Scatta”, along with Bauuer’s “Harlem Shake”. “Cheeni” feels like a riff on the vocal line from either Scary Monsters’ “With You, Friends (Long Drive)” or Bangarang’s “Summit”. With a bit of production magic, Moore is able to take something old and turn it into something new. He manages to do this with relatively unknown artists here in the United States as well; there may be the occasional odd feature from a bigger name artist like Young Miko, but he seems to plumb the depths of record crates (Soundcloud accounts in today’s digital nomenclature) and find the most unique musicians, rappers, producers, and talent in every corner of the globe.
Elsewhere, Skrillex continues to experiment. “La Noche 2” reunites him with Anita B Queen and Chris Lake, with playful synth notes that verge into what Porter Robinson dubs as “pretty music”. “Anybody” is an ISOxo collab that pushes out pulsing house beats at breakneck speed, while “Scut 2” with rom is probably the closest to modern dubstep that Skrillex gets on SOMA, while “Pente Rala” finds him awash in collaborators that combine tropical beats, Brazilian phonk, and house music all into one event.
If there’s one thing that has become blatantly clear about Skrillex, other than his disdain for traditional album release campaigns, it’s that he never traces trends. He either sets them and influences a generation, or follows his own path towards what kind of sounds he finds the most interesting. It would not surprise me in the least if a bunch of producers started to mimic the sounds on SOMA in the coming years, only for Moore to come out of left field with something completely different.
