Song of the Day: Lone - Mind's Eye Melody

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on The Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole, is “Mind's Eye Melody” by Lone from the EP Ambivert Tools Volume Two, out now on R&S Records.

Lone - Mind's Eye Melody (MP3)

Press play and we pour into "Mind's Eye Melody," a new track by UK producer Lone that makes one feel as if they have embodied a dragonfly traversing the path of a woodland stream. We are darting just above the surface, riding through beams of rich sun that stripe our path. We are interrupted only by the shadows of towering grass blades and specks of forest dust. The light flickers to the rhythm. This journey was summoned at the hands of producer Matt Cutler, the lone person behind Lone, and stems from the second in a series of EPs he has entitled Ambivert Tools, set to continue blossoming throughout 2017.

Attached to its four-to-the-floor beat, the track pulls us, navigating conga accents and reverberating splashes of color. An arpeggiating synth line drops in, bright and warm, ushering in tastes of the final component; bass. There’s a breath and the beat drops out. We rebuild and climb a marching snare into an open space where the song stands and stretches. At its fullest, the song draws comparisons to the earthly electronic sounds of Bonobo or Caribou or John Hopkins.

"Mind’s Eye Melody" is less runway and more dirt path, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be danced to. It’s soothing yet dark. The sub and lower pads shift their weight in the shadows while the melodic elements and rhythmic textures weave above, completing a song that exists as wholly uplifting. The message I'm hearing is that nature is unforgiving, but the light still comforts us in brief moments of respite.

Lone has a lot of great material to check out. You can start with his Bandcamp and keep up to date on further releases and performances on his Facebook Page. Check out a trailer for Ambivert Tools Volume Two below, and be on the lookout for volumes three and four later this year.