Machinedrum - A View of U

October 9, 2020 - Ninja Tune

North Carolina’s own Travis Stewart is here with an expansive new project in A View of U. The prolific artist has been busy with various side projects, solo releases, and countless remixes throughout the past few years, and this new album represents that work, feeling more like a journey through past projects than a singular idea shared amongst all the tracks. That’s not to say A View of U isn’t cohesive; there is a clear vision and tight production sentiment from Stewart that acts as the core and the binder. 

Stewart hits the ground running with ‘The Relic ft. Rochelle Jordan.’ Fast plucked synths build tension bridges between a nasty thicc FM bass and Jordan’s softer croonings. That bass and most of the percussive elements are at near constant odds with the rest of the parts of the track, pushing the tempo to it’s breaking point until a final submission to Jordan who is surrounded by a large string section. This moment of respite doesn’t last long, as the bass comes back in full force, trading a little of its previous sharpness for deeper, more guttural distortion. 

From here, the project opens up a good bit. More natural sounding drum kits play out on tracks like ‘Star ft. Mono/Poly & Tanerelle’ as hard genre lines soften. Strong vocal performances from the likes of Freddie Gibbs and Father pair well with Stewart’s two-toned production styles, blending in and out of lighter end-of-summer feelings and dark, gritty bass-heavy moods. ‘Sleepy Pierto ft. Tigran Hamasyan’ plays off this duality nicely as well, with Hamasyan’s eerie piano lines paired with lighter percussion and a bass that keeps its distance. The final few minutes play out like running through a maze while holding your breath: stressful but invigorating. 

The three listed solo outings by Stewart on this project don’t stand up as strongly to the collaborative efforts. ‘Believe in U’ comes in hot and keeps the pressure up throughout, but there’s not as much depth to the piece beyond being a fun peak-time festival banger. ‘Inner Eye’ almost takes it’s recently-made-conventional approach to the “bass track” too far with the cheesy brass section, but the distortion applied on the instruments keeps it from going over the edge. Similarly ‘Ur2yung’ throws itself back into a nostalgia-infused summer mindset with the haunting samples from Jazzie Cazzie and the Eight Sounds, almost pushing too far before distortion and noise cause the piece to implode on itself, a fitting end for the piece and project.

A few moments on the project where Stewart seems to let go just a little pay off dividends. ‘Wait 4 U ft. Jesse Boykins III’ sees the tempo being given permission to ascend to the upper limit of the 170s. Boykins floats around this tight drum & bass chamber, his light vocals mixing with a limited chord palette effectively. Fellow Ninja Tune artist Jeremy Malvin aka Chrome Sparks joins in on ‘Idea 36 ft. Chrome Sparks,’ taking Raymond Scott’s Electronium piece and running with it in typical Chrome Sparks sampled-adventure fashion. ‘1000 Miles ft. Sub Focus’ sees Stewart in collaboration with drum & bass stalwart Nicolaas Douwma aka Sub Focus for a late nite/early morning inspirational festival smash. Patient bass works alongside an ethereal jazz piano riff with some absolutely moody vocals. Classical guitar lines mirror the melody on the back half, a nice callback to track two, ‘Star ft. Mono/Poly & Tanerelle.’

All in, Stewart’s A View of U is a triumphant journey through the moments and mindsets that have brought Machinedrum to the present. Tight production and unified taste tie the individual pieces and their collaborators together into a solid, club and couch friendly project. Here’s to the future. 🍍