Since the beginning of the summer, Getter has made it clear to fans that a change was coming. In June, a full seven-minute trailer teased a more refined aesthetic, and the most diverse and melodic tracks yet from the producer. It’s clear the collection of music was meant to feel different from the start, with the producer saying each song “represents a piece of me or a part of my life.” In a world where some artists feel they’re risking being “left behind” while creating a cohesive body of work, Getter’s commitment to Visceral was immediately eye and ear catching. Now, the producer’s invigorated vision is released in full on his new label home, deadmau5‘ own mau5trap imprint.
As the spacey, rolling synth line in the opening track Purgatory drifts in and out of key and focus, it’s easy to draw a parallel to the internal discord Getter has opened up about in recent months. In an interview with Dancing Astronaut, the artist detailed his struggles with mental illness and how it’s affected the spirit of his musical output. “I got through my shit by writing music, and I wrote a song “Color Blind,” literally in tears, wrote these fucking lyrics cause I was on the edge,” explained the producer. “I felt way better, so I chased that feeling.” Visceral‘s role as a therapeutic release is apparent across its diverse set of soundscapes and arrangements. The AudioOpera-assisted “Part of Me” brings all the bombastic percussion and festival-rocking power of past Getter productions, but achieves its impact through an unexpected depth of spacious atmospherics, washing mournful over a slowed drums. The more textured approach continues across tracks like “Made for You (Alone Again),” with Getter’s own intensely personal lyrics holding court over a glitchy break beat and swirling arps.
When Visceral was announced, it understandably raised some eyebrows. What about OWSLA Getter, who eats festivals for breakfast with vicious trap hits like “Head Splitter?” How would the artist’s vision translate to sets and expectations–and to his new label’s techno and progressive-leaning horde? The honest answer is that Getter is clearly not out to please anybody, or meet any expectations with his experimental full length other than his own. The result is the most is an unexpectedly introspective evolution that feels more honest than anything the artist has done before. Getter’s knack for slapping drums and hip hop-infused arrangements is still here in spades on songs like “Best of Me” and “Numb,” but each track remains in a melodic realm previously visited only in spurts. Visceral is the result of an EDM mainstay committing to himself, his craft, and the idea that evolving in the name of expression resonates truer than any expectations.
Photo Credit: Rukes
Source: dancingastronaut.com
