There has been a lot of talk circulating the production of Deadmau5’s new album W:/2016ALBUM/. Much of the debate surrounding the album is Joel’s vocal critiques towards his work, which caused fans to wonder what exactly he had to be so critical of. The highly anticipated album released December 2, and Deadmau5 fans alike praised Joel on a job well done. We here at DMNW have basically had the album on repeat since its release. Deadmau5 takes an experimental turn with this album, but it flows well with his traditional dark and melodic techno style.
4ware
This track gives a nice, smooth introduction to the album. The technique of the song has a similar melodic sound that you hear while listening to Strobe. Listening to the song gives you a nostalgic feeling, as if hearing it for the first time makes you well up inside with pure happiness. Definitely one of the DMNW top songs of the album. Its cordial,upbeat, yet somewhat melancholic tones resonate well and bring enthusiasm for the rest of the album.
2488
2488 starts off with a powerful, vibrato electronic opening that sets the stage for the rest of the song. The chord progressions start of melodious for the first third of the song, but quickly change to pulsating scratchy drums. It switches smoothly, yet abruptly between the forceful drums and harmonious chord progressions. The song is definitely suiting for those that enjoy harsh discords, as well as euphonious sounds.
Cat Thruster
One of our other favorite elements of this album are the track titles. They’re so deadmau5-esque, and it’s always fun noticing his personality show through. The beat is slower, but still has that mellow fluidity present in other tracks. Cat Thruster brings the listener a unique blend of funk and techno, with a little bit of abrupt percussion.
Deus Ex Machina
This track follows in suit of deadmau5’s traditional dark, techno with crisp percussion. Its quick staccato with scratchy drums carry the momentum of the song. The song takes a harmonious, entrancing turn about halfway through, but quickly resides into a blunt, sci-fi sound.
Glish
The shortest song off the album, Glish has a different technique then from deadmau5’s dark, techno vibes. The title fits thoroughly well with the style of the song, as the track has more glitch-hop techniques present. It has fluent, liquid sounds with a futuristic, extraterrestrial feel. This was a stylistic choice that Joel was clear about prior to the album, and it definitely shows in this track.
Imaginary Friends
One of the first singles to release off the album, Imaginary Friends has definitely garnered attention as a popular track. We can recall first hearing this song during deadmau5’s headlining performance at FreakNight 2015. The introductory build up has a mesmerizing, symphonic sound that gives the listener anticipation for the rest of the track. At about 2 minutes in, the trance-like melody sharply switches to an ominous downbeat with assertive drums. It flips between melodic sounds and aggressive percussion until it concludes to smooth tones that remind you of youthful innocence and ‘imaginary friends.’
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