Arizona-based solo project Velvet Ripple impresses on new track “Frequency,” a synth-pop success that thematically captures the uneasy experience of being present in a social setting without quite feeling part of it. Written, recorded, mixed, and mastered alone in a bedroom, the song uses its 108bpm pulse, bass-led foundation, and subtly altered lead treatment to mirror a narrator caught between observing the room and searching for a way into it.
The track delights in its contrast between active, expressive synth elements and dreamier melodic inclinations. “The room is full of faces that I almost recognise, and conversations i can nearly read,” they let out with mellow allure, ascending in emotion as the “looking for the frequency” hook hits; the timbre fondly resembles Kevin Parker, while the bustling electronics show shades of Metronomy. A space-set spoken sample then bridges into the midpoint’s approach, reprising the search for “the frequency.” This is an excellently produced and melodic offering from Velvet Ripple.
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This and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
