Tucked off the main road, the listening party for Subtronics’s upcoming album, Tesseract, took place at Create Music Group, where the group gathered in the studio to prepare to hear the record. Jessie Kardon of Subtronics, currently prepping for the upcoming tour in Philadelphia, introduced the album via Zoom. It was here that he really dove into some of the nuances of the album, as well as the process behind creating it. Since discovering dubstep in high school, Kardon has continued to refine and master the craft of music production. One couldn’t help but notice the authenticity and obvious passion in Kardon’s voice as he described various facets of the record. Kardon emphasized how this album merges his past sound with new inspirations. The album’s title, Tesseract, stems from Kardon’s interest in quantum physics and high-dimensional theory. He noted during the introduction that this has been a life-long interest, and something that he not only explores musically, but also through the album visuals. The cover art provides a great introduction for listeners, as it highlights both the energy and the sci-fiesque influences of the music. Over the course of two years, Kardon and his team worked tirelessly, submitting the album multiple times. He highlighted the contributions of team members, and thanked them for the time and energy that was put into creating this album.
After Kardon signed off, the album began to play throughout the studio. Although the entire album wasn’t designed to be dance music, “Cottage Gore” kicked off the album with strong baselines that naturally carried throughout the tracks. There are quite a few collaborators, and the vocals on tracks like “Only Star You See (feat. Caitlyn Scarlett)”, “Dreams (Plasma Reflex)(feat. Crooked Bangs)”, and “Alien Communication” all add a new and fresh dimension to the album. Fans will be excited to hear that pop culture references were also sprinkled throughout. “Quantum Queso” sampled the audio of popular memes, and is most definitely a song that was created for a live set. “Alien Communication” was another standout of the album, and the drops blended nicely, creating a new sound and showcasing the different creative pathways that Kardon experimented with while making this album. While the first half was strong and played with some new electronic aspects; the album really excelled in the second half. It was here that one could really start to hear the new influences, and in this half, many songs explicitly honed in on the tesseract theme. As Kardon mentioned in his introduction, there was also more variation. The songs were not just for the dance floor, but also made to listen with headphones, while some had a more relaxing vibe. As the album came to a close, the final few tracks felt like they symbolized the goals of the album, particularly the final track, titled “Buried Alive (feat. Jem Cooke).” The sound felt omnipresent, and the mixing paired with backing vocals made for an impressive end to an already compelling album.
The album will be released on February 16 in conjunction with the beginning of The Tesseract Tour. The tour will begin in Minneapolis before coming to a close in May at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
You can pre-save Tesseract here.
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