More than a year since the Atlanta-based pop-rock innovator MatAre popped up on our radar and our lives haven’t been the same since. Whether you’re in a melancholic mood, in need of some personal reflection or feeling some ’80s nostalgia, this Atlanta-based musician has got your back. With a real understanding of how new wave, dream-pop and shoegaze textures can be shaped into sonic architecture that subverts all your expectations of the genre, MatAre surprises us once again with his latest single ‘Dancing With The Spirits’.
From the track’s opening, it immediately grabs our attention with a bold percussive signal, which is swiftly followed by an instantaneously danceable soundscape. With a combination of atmospheric synths, reverby guitars and punching rhythms, there’s a real urgency to this cinematic production, one that evokes the romance and mystery of club dance-floors.
Alongside this dance-worthy turn from MatAre, what else really makes this track stand out is the purposeful use of collaboration here. He recruited South African drummer Glenn Welman whose tight rhythms and anthemic twists are a real driving force throughout. He also called on Argentinian vocalist Denisse Ferrara, whose floating, airy backing vocals act as the ethereal counterpoint to MatAre‘s own earthy, bassy voice.
By transforming the artist’s usual backdrop of sand, sea and beach into something shrouded in shadow and illuminated by moonlight, ‘Dancing With The Spirits’ is designed for playing after-dark.
You can also listen to ‘Dancing With The Spirits’ in our Outsiders Club playlist.
Follow MatAre:
UNRECORDED 