“Natural Wonder Beauty Concept” by Natural Wonder Beauty Concept
An arresting downtempo electronic collaboration.
Hello! 😊👋
Welcome to a new edition of the Best Music of All Time newsletter!
Today’s music pick is an arresting downtempo electronic collaboration between ambient artist Ana Roxanne and DJ Python.
Genre: Electronic, Trip-Hop
Label: Mexican Summer
Release Date: June 30, 2023
Vibe: ☺️
No electronic or ambient album released in 2023 plays with the fabric of space and time quite like Natural Wonder Beauty Concept, the debut collaboration between DJ Python and Ana Roxanne. From track to track, the tempo and pitch seem to mutate of their own accord, like an organism growing in size and strength as it comes into contact with another hollowed-out hi-hat or thick kick drum. It’s an organic, even earthy-sounding record that produces several moments of stark, stunning beauty amid the somewhat chaotic lo-fi aesthetic. Like many projects initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, it unpacks feelings of isolation, detachment, dissolution, and fear without losing sight of the opportunities to comfort and connect. In that sense, Wonder is a profoundly human listening experience.
One of the LP’s best aspects is how each cut carves out its own identity without totally breaking the spell cast by the one that came before it. On “Ill,” Python throws his hat into the emo-rap ring, serving up some vocals that crash like waves against a stripped-down trap beat and retrograde synth lines. The title track delivers atmospherics that’s still moody but much airier, with Roxanne’s earworm of a refrain floating effortlessly above the trip-hop-meets-jungle instrumental. At the same time, my personal favorite, “Driving,” muddies the waters with glitch-heavy production that sounds like you’re holding your breath underwater. Each of these parts, as distinctive as they are, combine to create a transcendent whole that is as carefully calibrated as it is resolute about the melancholia at its core.
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