Atlas Franklin Alexander Reveals His Variegated Debut EP ‘Enter Echo’
Three years in the making, Atlas Franklin Alexander has finally dropped his self-produced debut EP Enter Echo. The first instalment of this long-awaited journey was released in August 2018: Ancient Choreography. Listening to the EP you can hear Atlas’s song writing journey has undergone changes since his first single; it has matured. Each track shows development and growth and tells a story. The EP gives the listeners the opportunity to soul search, with his mystical sound. Layers, and layers of synths to guide the listener’s soul to explore life or go on a DMT journey without the DMT.
The title track ‘Enter Echo’ starts the listeners by giving them a perplex situation. You first feel as though you are about to start a trip, mellow and chill. But as the song progresses, so do the layers that are built on top of each other. It becomes apparent you’re slowly descending into a hole. ‘Valis 五百四’, the second single of the release, is the pick me up once you’ve fallen through said hole. The fast tempo synths with the hi-hat accompaniment gives the listeners the energy boost to keep on going. It brings forth a mixture of beauty and intensity of space and time.
‘Glow’ introduces the listeners to an atmospheric soundscape with soothing guitars and synths. The track gives the feeling of floating on a sea of clouds; calm, relaxing and unbound by earthly tether. ‘Sonder’, the final single release before the EP, features alien synth textures with mystifying vocals that take you to a place where you feel caught or trapped, and the thought process of consequences begin to roll in; the boundaries are limitless. ‘Innit (iii)’ with the reversed enigmatic vocals and synths makes you feel as if you are going backwards. Returning to the start, coming full circle, before leading towards the end. With the clean guitar adding texture to the track, it solidifies the imagery associated with that of a time warp.
‘Ancient Choreograpgy’ begins with growing synths and traditional biwa. With the addition modulated vocals, it’s clear we are finally at the end of the journey of self-discovery. However, as the biwa ends, the song quickly turns into chaos. Whether this is a warning, or an insight to yourself, it is a radical way to end the EP.
Overall, ‘Enter Echo’ is a beautiful piece of work that was well worth the wait. Each track embodies a certain section of a journey through space and time, and its appealing nature will please an array of electronic music fans that are looking to submerge themselves to its extraordinary textures.