Tagged with " the blank"
The Blank – ‘Plastic Dreams’ EP
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We’ve already seen two great EP’s and a few choice collaborations this year from Henry Ashcroft, aka The Blank. His new EP, Plastic Dreams, conclude his trilogy of dream themed EPs. Proceeded by TwentyElevenDreaming and Suburban Dreamer, Plastic Dreams takes a different approach to his usual method. The new EP enlists not only the amazing vocals of PORTALS favorite Steffaloo, but actually his own unfiltered vocals for what seems like the first time. Songs like “Falling” play more like a forlorn folk tune…that is until halfway through, when the beat drops.
His experimentation is wide and valiant. It’s clear that he is trying to expand his reach, broaden his horizons, and evolve with the best of them. And it’s clear that it’s working. You can grab Plastic Dreams for a measly $1 over on Bandcamp, and stream the whole thing below.
The Blank – “Burn (ft. Steffaloo)”
Perth’s The Blank (Henry Ascroft) and LA’s Steffaloo (Steph Thompson) collaborate on this new tune “Burn”, a track slowly strolls along the line between a deep meditative bounce and intense pounding lullaby. The Blank‘s hypnotizing beat leads you into the crush while Thompson’s lyrics match the vibe.
Ascroft tells of the song’s beginnings:
i guess i wanted to change up my original style, i wanted to approach it from a more hip hop/dupe angle
also i went through a few tracks i wasnt happy with, i wanted it to be just right,
so this track has been in my file set for weeks with me altering it and messing with it
and then yeh, i think i hit a sweet spot.
so then i sent it over to steph
and she worked her infinite magic!
Steffaloo elaborates a bit on how the collab came to be:
i came across “the blank” how i come across a lot of great producers out there, through my bro tim. he had liked, or posted, one of the blank‘s songs called “say it all“, and after one listen to it i knew i would love to do a song with him. so i wrote him haha. i was pretty excited that he was down for it and when he sent me the track i fell in love. it wasn’t like a lot of other tracks i’ve worked on. it had that deep bass line and was more of a dub/dupe type of track, so i wanted to make the lyrics about something other than love or missing someone haha.. i’d just watched this movie that kind of reminded me i was alive and made my heart feel like it was going to burst a little and so when i got home to work on this track the lyrics that came out were -
shake out all the dust that’s in your eyes
and you will see just fine
take out all the splinters in your mind
watch all the gears unwind
let the fires in your chest burn
burnnn
i think there’s so much that can get in the way sometimes of us really seeing life in all it’s fullness, so the idea of just clearing away the dust and splinters that can build up in our lives and keep us from feeling that burn in our chests for life was appealing to me. and the track really went along with sentiment because you can really feel it deep in your chest when that deep base line and pounding beat drop in. i loved it.
Gems In Disguise: Vol. 7
Gems in Disguise is a regular round-up of SoundCloud’s finest electronic beats and bits, compiled by Speaker Snacks, Flashlight Tag, Life: Aquatic, and East to West.
Lying under purple skies, prickly and soft orange grass touches my skin and keeps me tethered. Red trees dance in front of us, skinny night-walkers waving tribal limbs to distilled sounds. The pink sun vibrates, convalescing in waves of mushroom clouds. A vortex in the sky, a pink eye, an uneven dye— flexing its muscles and reigning high above our lucid dreams.
1. The Blank — “Dreaming” (via Life: Aquatic)
2. Network. — “Lucky (True North Remix)” (via East to West)
3. orchids&flowers — “Hastings Way” (via Flashlight Tag)
4. Forget Me Not — “What were you gonna say (Gullfisk remix)” (via Speaker Snacks)
