Elliot Adamson - IDEA

September 28, 2018 - [IDEA]

Elliot Adamson is a man with ideas. He loves ideas and he uses ideas to fuel his life and his passion and his free time. The most recent idea he’s had is to make a label where he can put music that he and others have created out into the world and see what happens. It is a move that takes courage. It takes determination. It takes just doing it. Elliot Adamson just does it. He doesn’t talk about it. He is an individual with drive, and his drive imbues jealousy in those who do not just do. 

The [IDEA] label launches with a trio of thoughtful sound slappers that embody a sense of unbridled creation. These tracks are not complicated nor do they need any unpacking. They are, in fact, not carrying any baggage at all. They do not need room and board. They roam freely and loosely and the fact that they exist and are out there is their point.

‘LOVE’ is first. It’s a high-energy track that teases with dance floor expectations just enough to trip dancers up in the best of ways. Samples are used heavily to increase tension to the breaking point then removed entirely to let the space breathe. The use of cymbals here is not overlooked. They are used, and used well. 

‘BABE’ is second. It’s a cheeky belter that messes about for a full minute before the meat and potatoes bass kicks in. Spectral vocal bits and hall-reverb saturated samples fill the cave of sound to the brim before Adamson pulls the drain plug to release the tension yet again. The cymbals are present here as well, but their presence is more subdued than before.

‘BURN’ is third. It’s a track in layers, metamorphic in structure as the sample heavy intro peels away to a more interesting bass/chord section that peels into a percussive interlude that peels back into the piano stabs from the intro. This is the shortest track of the bunch and there is less tension to build and break. The cymbal use is strong and pleasing. 

Adamson on the surface does not seem to balk at creation. The ideas for his music, as he himself has stated in the past, come swiftly and he in turn acts. He lays figurative pen to figurative paper and gets the idea down. It’s a quick clean up here, a little mastering there, and the track is produced. I’ve been keen to watch as he continues down the path, and the idea of him heading a label is certainly a good one. Here’s to good ideas. 🍍

IDEA, an album by Elliot Adamson on Spotify