Across the pond in London resides *Idioteque, an up-and-coming producer on the alt-electronic scene.
He started like many artists, releasing his music on his *SoundCloud. His first venture into music was a free download on the music-sharing service, a single titled ”Vendetta.” “Vendetta” was also his first foray into 140, a style of electronic music characterized by its 140 beats per minute and taking influence from genres like dubstep, techno, and drum and bass. It was very well received, and his music continued to grow as a result.
With the success of “Vendetta,” Idioteque began to release more music, namely a track called “Morality” in 2020. It was released on the dubstep platform known as DUPLOC and quickly became a favorite both amongst fans and the platform itself for its sound made up of staticky synthesizers alongside swinging drum beats and intermittent sounds of church bells in the later part of the song. The fuzzy-sounding track later went on to be selected by the platform for “DUPLOC SELECTS.”
Since that initial success in 2020, Idioteque has continued to release music. He released his first EP, *“Keeping You Alive = Killing Me” in 2022. Marked by the fact that it was among his first works to contain lyricism and vocals from other rising artists such as *Sheba Q on the track “Wrong Turns in Odyssey,” as well as, spoken word poetry from the enigmatic Toulouse on “Seaview 9.”
The rising producer continued to release singles after this. One of them, known as “Richie Aprile,” even managed to make its way onto a Spotify editorial with the help of the vocalist and collaborator Isa Sin.
However, his two most recent efforts, “Brand New Page (feat. *Reptile B)” and “Offering (feat. *Swan Diver)” have proven to be among his best work yet.
“Brand New Page” combines slightly spacey synthesizers, guitars and drum beats to create the instrumentals. It is then laid under the verses of U.K. rapper Reptile B. This is then before the style takes a turn for the darker, with a much moodier chorus and bridge from Idioteque himself, creating a hauntingly well-structured song.
“This song sprouted from a poem I had recently written, which subsequently became the central chorus of the track” the musician explained in an Instagram caption.
“Amid a turbulent few years that impacted us all, I engaged in contemplation regarding the gradual erosion of childhood’s inquisitiveness and purity, juxtaposed with the complex evolution into adulthood. It felt like a retrospective conversation with one’s younger, more innocent self. I drew parallels between the life-cycle of humans and trees, being transformed into paper; marked by the challenges that we encounter in our existence, and how these experiences shape us.”
Growing up is not easy, and it is difficult to look back upon the innocence of one’s younger self without feeling some form of nostalgia in comparison to the dark mundane of adulthood, and the track explains this feeling beautifully.
On the other hand, “Offering” is a new foray into trip-hop or a musical subgenre that has been described as a fusion of hip-hop, electronic and psychedelic elements to create a spacey, almost lo-fi-esque sound.
Idioteque uses these elements to make the style his own, using reverberated drum beats, interesting sound effects and a soft, low bassline. These are driven further forward under an acoustic guitar riff and that staticky signature sound.
“As time has passed I feel like I’m getting closer to making the music I want to create. Carving out my own sound, seeing more of my core influences come through, and feeling the most creatively fulfilled I’ve ever felt. Now, using my own guitar work and organic methods of recording far more, I think it’s so important to keep feeling stimulated and evolve, and not just make the same thing over and over again” the musician explained in the caption of another Instagram post.
All of these elements are, of course, guided forward by the eloquent hand of Georgia-based artist Swan Diver’s vivid, poignant lyricism and moody vocals. The imagery of the lyrics is a main highlight of the song, and upon further inspection of Swan Diver’s Spotify page, the fact that he listed romantic poetry as a main source of inspiration should not come as much of a surprise.
The lyrics describe a resistance to change and an attachment to pain for the narrator, acting as a battle between light and dark and representing inner turmoil. The narrator wants to escape the pain of his life but has become so accustomed and attached to it that letting go is barely a possibility anymore. This is displayed beautifully on the piece’s artwork, which was created with this in mind by artist Jesse Kilgore.
Furthermore, the electronic producer is finding success outside of the studio, having performed at the Project 6 Festival in the U.K. earlier this year.
It is apparent that Idioteque is quickly growing, and should be a producer to watch for on the electronic scene in the coming years.
