Delivering one of this year’s biggest anthems, French outfit Kas:st impress on their Afterlife debut ‘Hold Me To The Light’.
In a highly anticipated affair, the duo known as Kas:st close out a remarkable 2019 with a 4 tracker, which can best be described as a grandiose, genre-defying record of modern electronica. Riddled with the weight of powerful emotions, ‘Hold Me To The Light’ is a gripping journey, as Kas:st dab in techno and downtempo while navigating through the past and present of what we believe music can be.
In the album opener, which lends its name to the release, Kas:st resort to the beautiful connection created by the vocal lines dropped by singer Be No Rain. Fragile, but warm, these lines echo in our hearts, as beautiful arpeggiators intertwine, looking for an opening in the skies. All the while, piano lines that tug at our heartstrings contrast to the throbbing low end for an epic creation that feels built for immense arenas, but at the same time, it’s the kind of song you can intimately play on the piano, alone, for no one else, and it will still have the same emotional impact.
Remixing a track like ‘Hold Me To The Light’, and not to cheapen the initial intention might seem like a difficult feat, but melodic techno titans and Afterlife founders Tale Of Us handle the project with care, as they re-envision the track as a mammoth that capitalizes on the best moments delivered by the French producers. Curating a straight-up jet black frame, the Italian duo lay a solid foundation where the vocals and an epic riff that reminds us of some of Trance’s finest moments, for a more violent take that has been sending off dancefloors into complete rapture.
On the B side, we find two very entrancing pieces that find Kas:st bending sounds and musical notions at will. ‘The Hymn Of Fallen Dreams’ is the first of both, and it is a cinematic and broad picture, where baroque-style moments make their way into a Techno driven journey, that twists and turns in mesmerizing fashion.
Following suit, album closer ‘Be Yourself’ is cut from the same fabric as the previous tracks, but blazes its own trail, where heavily modulated vocals sway in and out, echoing, just like a message of great importance that seems to have fallen on deaf ears but still resonates in the subconscious of the receiver, waiting to finally be decoded.
‘Hold Me To The Light’ is one of those records that make electronica what it is. One of those records that show what electronica can be, defying preconceived notions, blurring lines for others to transgress as well. A beautiful collection of songs that hold electronica to a higher light.
Buy and stream here.
