North Carolina-raised electronic producer Machinedrum, aka Travis Stewart, has had an eclectic career so far, but you wouldn’t describe much of his back catalogue as cheerful. His solo albums and collaborative projects have often focussed on dark textures and gloomy moods, but on Human Energy he’s done a 180. Instead of evoking foggy nights in abandoned post-industrial cities, his new music is more like eating candy floss on a sunny day at an amusement park with your best friends.
The huge shift in mood comes out of Stewart’s relocating to California and falling in love. In addition to the overtly happy melodies, he’s also lifting ideas from mainstream pop and R&B, although there are still traces of his drum ’n’ bass and footwork influences in the angular beat programming. It’s less that he’s aiming at the top 40 charts, and more that he’s deconstructing and abstracting those kinds of sounds.
Stewart has brought many vocalists as collaborators on board but rarely uses them within traditional pop song structures. Instead, he chops, gates and mangles their voices into new shapes, occasionally stepping back to let their hooks settle in. The trick is particularly effective on Do It 4 U, featuring former Danity Kane singer D∆WN.
But it’s not all gossamer trance synths and uplifting melodies. On White Crown, Stewart calls on progressive metal guitarist Tosin Abasi to create mesmerizing electronic math rock that works far better than you’d imagine. Kevin Hussein’s appearance on Dos Puertos is almost festival trap EDM, but thankfully keeps veering off into more adventurous territory.
Some Machinedrum fans will find his newfound cheeriness disconcerting, but Stewart approaches the project with so much enthusiasm that it’s hard not to get swept up in the good vibes.
Top track: Tell U, featuring Rochelle Jordan
Machinedrum plays the Velvet Underground on Friday (October 14).
