Pantyraid - After Glow

Pantyraid
After Glow
2016
Spotify

For any fans of Pantyraid the three years since their last release Pillowtalk has been an eternity for something new, but patience is a virtue and those fans have been rewarded with After Glow. The DJing duo Pantyraid have brought together elements of Hip Hop, R&B and Future Bass to craft an album that is vibrant and full of life yet grounded in a darkness that surrounds it. Josh Mayer of The Glitch Mob fame and Martyparty have come together on this album and made something really special and really different. Where a lot of electonric music, especially those on the dancier side, tend to sacrifice inventiveness for mainstream appeal After Glow never does that. "Nights" which shockingly was not one of the singles from the record thus far is a deep dive down the the late night rabbit hole. It bends and turns in an almost slithering type of way, pulling you along with it's wake with snaps and a hip hop-esque vocal. It is a really special song on an otherwise really special album. Throughout the record you are treated to these little almost Easter eggs that don't last very long but elevate a particular song way outside of what it would otherwise be. "With You" starts like it could be something coming from Odesza or Slow Magic, with intensely precise percussion, but then it shifts into something darker, more menacing with only the female vocal bringing you back to any sense of normality.

"Wanting Moves" the first single off of After Glow is the most "glitchy" or dub steppy, however it never falls fully into explosions of sound driving the music. It can never be described as demur, but taking on something like dub step and showing that kind of restraint is really quite impressive. "About Last Night" at times ventures almost to the electropop level, with it's bright synthy tones, but the edge that Pantyraid are so good at crafting never leaves you, and thus the music maintains it's darkness. After Glow just has this quality where you can either get in to it with a large group of people and just sweat and dance, but there is also an element of leaning back and just letting the sound wash over you. The album has so many peaks, and expertly takes you through each one. Surprisingly the album suffers the most when a full vocal is included. 'Six A.M." featuring Bobby Saint, is a perfectly fine track, but the structure feels restricted to make sure the vocal shines. This is not standard EDM bass and vocals, but it is teetering right on that edge. Pantyraid are at their best when propping up a vocal is not even a thought. However for an album to really only have that one slight misstep is quite incredible. You really need to check out what Pantyraid are doing here on After Glow because who knows when we might get more.

8.2 out of 10