British producer Michael Greene, aka. Fort Romeau makes a return to Ghostly International for the release of his third career studio album, ‘Beings Of Light’, the 8-track record dips its toe into areas of house, nu disco, ambient, and electronica, and overall it brings a well produced, well balanced, and highly emotional mix of sounds. As a label, the New York-based Ghostly International has seen appearances from some of electronic music’s most esteemed artists, including names like Tycho,
Matthew Dear, Kate Simko, and Matrixxman. The majority of the album consists of vibrant filtered synths, loose percussion, and stripped back drum grooves, on tracks like ‘Power of Grace’ and ‘Beings of Light’, Greene uses dense reverbs and echoing filter delays to create space and atmosphere around even the most basic of sounds, a simple synth pluck or static percussive hit becomes an exciting and constantly evolving set piece. On ‘The Truth’ and ‘Spotlights’, it’s the bassline that takes centre stage, surrounded by rhythmically placed vocal chops and other one shot style elements, it creates a bass-heavy club sound that will no doubt fill any room it’s met with. ‘Rain’ and ‘Porta Coeli’ are the two most contrasting inclusions on the tracklist, leaving the drums at home, they build a world of sound from the ground up, using glistening pad sounds, resonating synth tones, and lightly textured samples.
Where to start:
Untitled IV: Modulated synth lines and stripped back drums
The Truth: Filtered basslines paired with light, airy pad sounds
Spotlights: Deep, groovy house cut with big basslines & sampled vocals
Previous from Fort Romeau:
Kingdoms LP (2012, 100% Silk)
Insides LP (2015, Ghostly International)
If you like this then check out:
Leon Vynehall – Nothing Is Still (2018, Ninja Tune)
Roman Flügel – Eating Darkness (2021, Running Back)
Fort Romeau – Beings Of Light is out now on Ghostly International.