An artist has awoken with a penchant for ethereal tinged sounds that traverse through time, space, and – of course – the electric shocks of our brains’ synapses. It is on these electric waves that his sonic narrative charges like a thunderous stampede enveloping listeners’ bodies in its emotional luminosity. With a dynamic, sweltering sound, it’s no wonder that Colyn is an artist to watch. It is also why electronic darlings RÜFÜS DU SOL released his newest EP, Concepts of Love via their Rose Avenue label.
Colyn began his artistic journey many years ago and made his first mark with Primal Instinct, a dark, melodic techno EP. This was followed by the 2018 EP Passengers, which continued his foray into what I would describe as minimalist techno-based sounds. He began his evolution towards a more expansive, textured sound on Resolve. Thanks to the support of Tale Of Us, it is this EP that sent his sound spiraling towards the dance music aficionados and began his quick ascent.
That brings us to the present and his release of Concepts of Love. The two-track EP is nothing short of mystical. While it still can be placed in the broad genre of melodic dance music, Colyn unveils another evolution of his sound – glistening textures and swelling energy.
On “Running”, the sharp synths sting the eardrums with poignancy, while the percussion and bass drive listeners through the experience with toe-tapping glee. The vocal from his brother, Maurits Colijn, is nothing short of exemplary and oozes a sensation that cohesively weaves with the sound. It’s as if Colyn wrote the production knowing that his brother would be the coup de grâce.
The titular track, “Concepts of Love” brings a different sonic expedition that we haven’t quite heard before from Colyn. He creates a vibrance that borders on an emotionally-charged progressive sound. The swelling and bubbling of sounds are incredibly beautiful and brings a daring wrinkle to his sound.
To better understand the emotion and narrative behind Concepts of Love, Colyn provided us with the following:
When I made this EP, I was inspired by disparate feelings for each track. ‘Concepts of Love’ differs a lot from my previous work, which usually captures strong emotions like love and hate with a sense of melancholy. ‘Concepts of Love’ doesn’t embrace sadness, it reflects enthusiasm and those butterflies in your stomach when you are crazy about someone. ‘Running’ is quite the opposite with the storyline it has. When my brother Maurits and I wrote these lyrics together, it was supposed to be an indie song, but it never came to its full form. Later I took the vocals and built the track as we know it around them. For me it has a feeling of desperation, the feeling of losing grasp on something important that you don’t want to lose. The words in the last section really complete the emotional journey of this track. Like when a relationship is crashing but you remember the time that you were conquering the world together. The longing for that perfect but long-gone situation is ‘Running’ to me.
Colyn
Overall, Concepts of Love is a breathtaking EP that shines a light on the brilliance of an artist. The insatiable emotion that earmarks the EP brings listeners back time and time again to feel whatever it is that Colyn’s magical sound design conjures. He is a star in the making and we all need to keep our eyes and ears affixed. I know I will.
