In case you’re not into that kind of music, Blackmill’s Robbie Card is one of the pioneers of melodic dub-step.
After reaching number one on Hype Machine with his remix of ‘Your Song’ by Ellie Goulding a few years back, and (fast forward to today) has since got over 500,000 single sales under his belt, 250,000 album sales as well as 70 million streams (and growing).
With a vast cult following, this enigmatic producer is back again! This time the Watford-born dub-step prince dabbles in a whole different sonic spectrum than before, and having teamed up with his long-time friend and fellow Scottish musician John Edge, he enters into the Americana indie folk genre.
“Emerald City” is the fruit of their collaboration. Opening softly with the eerie Fleet Foxes-like harmonies, the track immediately brings nostalgia and melancholy into play. There’s a slight country-ish twang to Edge’s way of singing, which topped with Blackmill’s powerful usage of space within the instrumentations, “Emerald City” sounds like a goose-bump-winner. If, however, you press play and the instant splendour of sound doesn’t lift your spirits right away, please just wait ‘til the chorus kicks in. Its spine and ear-tingling Hozier-like soaring vocal harmonies are there to hit and move just the right spot of any music lover, you included!
When talking about “Emerald City”, the Inverness-based musician Edge says: ‘Since reality is never what it seems, it feels very much like a quest to me to actually find what is true. I can’t help but write about the big questions.’
Robbie aka Blackmill also talks about his new venture. The producer says: ‘Well for a long time I always wanted to work on acoustic music, making sneaky tracks now and again but they always got over shadowed by my electronic work. I actually intend to do more, in fact quite a few melodies were first made on the guitar and then later turned into songs. ‘Relentless’ was one I can name of the top of my head. I did make a reggae track as well which was mostly done acoustically.
So when John asked me if I’d help produce his first Acoustic/Electronic E.P I was on board in a flash. I got started straight away and was inspired to make it a big one. Apparently it was originally supposed to be light acoustic song, well I most certainly flipped that pancake. Pretty much every weekend John would pop round and we’d work away, you could even say it got a bit emotional at times! But simply put, the love to create was there with us both during those months, which I think reflects ‘Emerald City’ and the E.P perfectly, hopefully you do too.’
John’s other-worldly fascination combined with Blackmill’s experimental departure from his trademark dub-step sound, makes “Emerald City” that much more distinct. Together they deliver a solid piece of melody topped with impeccable arrangements, a harmonious unity and their relentless love for music, out everywhere NOW.
Blackmill Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/blackmill
John Edge Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnEdgeMusic/