February 11, 2018 (streaming) - Unreleased
If I had one word to sum up ‘Looking from Above (ft. Yaeji)’ by Fede Lng, it would be whimsy. This song is the techno soundtrack to a Midsummer Night’s Dream. It’s dark, but only where it needs to be to make me feel like a badass listening. This track is what I play in my head as I envision a fantasy in which I’m a winner in the life contest. Walking down the street. Win. Buying espresso. Win. Checking Reddit. Win. Checking LinkedIn. Win. Writing things. Win. Paying rent. Win. Crying. Win. Showering. Win. In my head, I’m the Carrie Bradshaw of Philadelphia listening to this song.
What’s making my ears fuzz are the vocals, and Fede Lng a.k.a. Federico Lange has built a fittingly rebellious mood with his production to support them. Yaeji’s voice is front and center, speaking with her signature soft drama, like a child who is telling a fairy tale or a horror story that they made up on the spot. We don’t know what Yaeji is saying here, but we absolutely believe her. We just can’t help it. And when Lange pairs Yaeji’s voice with an insanely yummy bass line, the flavors sing, literally. Without Yaeji, this would be a standard, relatively forgettable track of techno clichés. You’d love it in the club, but not in the house. ‘Looking from Above’ is a taste we can buy into and carry home with us.
I particularly like how Lange uses Yaeji’s voice instead of percussion to build and drop the song. She’s surprisingly powerful, and that’s the primary appeal—the duality of softness and edge. And the sirens about halfway through are also a really nice plot device. This song doesn’t try to be something it isn’t, and I like that. Yaeji is the fresh culture star of the moment in the electronic music scene, and kudos to Lange for crafting a song with her vocals that really shows off the trend. We may not remember this song in ten years, but right now it’s cool perfection.
Federico Lange, is a DJ/producer based in London and owner of Axe On Wax Records. We are not sure when ‘Looking from Above (ft Yaeji)’ is set to release, or if it will ever be officially released. But we are thankful it’s been floating around the internet lately.
Yaeji is a Brooklyn-based artist re-energizing the electronic dance scene with her art-school-cool style and fresh Korean-American perspective. ☔