What’s cool about the work of producer, composer and experimental artist Dylan Tauber is that even though it’s on the experimental end of EDM, it’s still EDM and it’s universally acceptable. . Often, experimental music can be sharp or harsh, because the artist is so caught up in experimenting with the sound and the science of it all, that it fails to be music in the eyes and ears of some public. This is not the case with Tauber, whose pedigree is firmly rooted in complex composition and sound science, for he is also always interested in the beauty of composition. Maybe it’s his other disciplines like photography and digital art; Tauber always talks about the global impact, and his new album He loves Carmen, released in April on its own Son of Waves Studio imprint, certainly leaves and impact.
YEDM started following Tauber in 2017 when he released the first of his The sounds of space albums, the second volume of which was his most recent album before He loves Carmen. Before that, there was another notable series called dolphin trance, This is where Tauber really started to make his mark on trance and rave music. Before that, Tauber was much more on the ambient side of EDM and the experimental side of ambient, but it seems that with He loves Carmen, he’s committed to being a transsexual pants, at least for now.
Apparently inspired by his girlfriend, the production on He loves Carmen really is a new level for Tauber. It really has the ambient/experimental and dance world to merge this time. From the vintage rave notes of the album opener “Don’t Tell Me” to the upcoming 80s synthwave-inspired bass of the pseudo-title “I Love Carmen” to the rave pop of “Let It Go”, the synthesized trance of He loves Carmen has a solid, cohesive feel with an emotive, inspirational underpinning.
Another striking feature of He loves Carmen is the work of Ukrainian singer Anastasia Derkach. She lent her unique, picture-perfect vocals to a few tracks before connecting with Tauber, but it seems on this outing he’s giving her carte blanche to really use her vocals on the album-defining track “Light Warrior,” both have created a new level of stylized trance.
It’s weird to say that He loves Carmen might be Dylan Tauber’s best work to date, mostly because that could be said of every one of his 14 albums and it would always be true. Tauber is a master of the science of sound and creates a new world of sound with every album he releases. For the EDM set though, this one will hit differently. Expertly produced and full of beautiful compositions to keep tech nerds happy but effortlessly emotional and covering a wide range of eras at the same time, He loves Carmen also fits right in with what’s hot right now in electronica. It’s a kind of Hudson Mohawke effect, driven once again by Derkach’s voice: emotion, technology, skill and cool come together here, and it’s even more poignant that it’s inspired by love.
He loves Carmen is out now and can be streamed on Spotify. To see more of his music videos from this album and others, visit Dylan Tauber’s YouTube page.
