Today, as we listen to Mydgar, time stops. We indeed escape for a moment, for about twenty minutes ; we close our eyes to let our mind wander in a fantastic & dystopian world, which outlines are drawn by techno kicks and soft electronic layers. This is what is to be found in the latest album of the French producer Mydgar, whose pseudonym comes from a very well-known video game : Final Fantasy – and once you know this, you start to understand his music and the universes he describes through it a lot more. On top of that, his album is called “Vertigo”, a name that subtly casts a light on the feeling one may get when discovering the damage caused by men on the planet. Let’s listen to “Vertigo”, which released yesterday on Bandcamp.
“Vertigo” is 8 tracks that sway between melodic techno and electronica ; it is made of 8 tracks that include two featurings, one being The Decatur, and the other being the French singer Mazeult. Each track express both calm and urgency, and the first track that opens the album, named “Euphoria”, makes us feel like we are traveling at full speed above a crowded city, whose dynamic center and hectic way of life gets quickly overwhelming for everyone involved. Once this track has come to and end, it is “Late Night” that we listen to ; even though it is less gloomy than its predecessor, the impression of traveling at full speed remains, as we feel like we are in a car, on an empty highway that stretches as far as the eye can see. Then, the more time passes, the more the track progresses ; tortured synths take place in the foreground after a while, surprising us with what seems to be a heated conversation in a language which is unfortunately foreign to us.
Similar to Mydgar : Video premiere : breezing through a post-apocalyptic world in “LICHEN”, Zelezna’s new track & video
After listening to “Shake” which features the deep voice of The Decatur, we get listen to “Breathe” ; its music video for shows skyscrapers stretching out as far as the eye can see, views of planes flying above the clouds, but also of construction sites, overcrowded neighborhoods… it seems like we get to go on a world tour for four minutes and for which the soundtrack is made of saturated electronic music, sometimes rhythmic sometimes ethereal. If the first part of the music video really shows the impact of the mankind on the planet, the second part shows us the forces of Nature at work, sea waves defining the shores, trees slowly shaping forests… all in all, there is a subtle message, a double and contradictory one actually : either Man wins over Nature, or it will be the other way around.
After “Breathe”, whose music video ends with images showing oceans stretching beyond the horizon, it is “Lost At Sea” that we get to listen to, and on which we have the opportunity to hearing Yseult’s voice – a strong yet fragile song that gives a breath of fresh air to its listener. The album then slowly comes to an end ; “Church” and its violins make for an epic intermission in the album, “Vertigo” then features industrial and 8-bit sounds, revealing another side of Mydgar, a more experimental and underground one. Finally, “Transfer” allows the imagination of its listener to run freely thanks to its singular take on ambient music.
In short, Mydgar has the art of putting together the grandeur of electronica and the deepness of melodic and saturated techno, its contrast as intriguing as it is innovative. We keep an eye out for his next releases, and we hope to experience and hear these tracks live, in the upcoming weeks or months.
Mydgar is to be found on all streaming platforms. You can also follow him on Instagram !
