No Really, Feel My Bicep

Time and time again I've found myself explicitly drawn towards electronic music. I find it incredibly versatile. It's great for parties, workouts and to unwind. Electronic music has some sort of elegance to it due to its often quite minimalist tone, perhaps why I find it so appealing from a fashion conscious perspective. 'Feel my Bicep', or often known as just 'Bicep', are an electronic duo from Belfast. Formed in 2009, Andy Ferguson and Matt McBriar began to reminisce over old disco, house and Detroit techno before establishing their own label, 'Feel My Bicep', in 2012. Their debut studio album, named after the duo's stage name 'Bicep', appeared fresh on the music scene during September 2017. As a fan of the artists previous work this was an anticipated moment for me as the duo have been making advances within the music scene for a few years.

Releasing 'Glue' and 'Aura' as teasers a few weeks before the full album was distributed gave an exciting insight into what was coming. 'Aura', being their final of 12 songs on the album certainly speaks volume and is set to be their most popular song yet. The song builds up over the first minute and a half as we hear more and more synths introduced providing a thicker texture. A drum beat is then introduced establishing a rhythm, followed by a looped symbol. The track provides a specific light airy sound contradicted with harsher tones to balance the melodies. 'Aura' often refers to a distinctive atmosphere, the name is fitting considering the gradual build up and complimentary harmonies.

As each song finishes, the next fades in delicately with soft tones. Yet Bicep simultaneously preserve their techno embellishments. As a collective, the tracks take the listener on a beautiful journey through the elements of life, we experience an array of feelings, seasons and emotions within the album. 'Rain', provides a sensory illusion using sharp electronic beats alternating to accentuate a rain like sound. 'Kites' administers an upbeat melody with a faster tempo, again the sound further enhanced by the light airy idea of a kite. The song titles play a considerable role within the album. The duo have clearly allowed for their artistic visions to run wild finding inspiration within the everyday, perhaps mundane objects and ideas. Bicep have cleverly converted this into a talented musical vision.

Artists have become more and more creative in recent years. Following Kanye West's Saint Pablo, the perspective of the popular musician has shifted into something more than just sound. Moulding into an engaging inventive form, the track and the producer experiment with more fluid ideas such as telephone conversations and interviews. 'Vespa' has grasped this artistic concept as the track is composed over a conversation between two maybe three people. The track has a significant amount of reverb, and synthesisers are used to cause the voices to seem distant, fading in and out as the track progresses. The track certainly has a new wave early 80's ambiance as artists such a Kraftwerk would experiment with synths. Bicep have taken inspiration from this placing their modern perspective of the style by adding the conversation on top to give a rock start interview vibe. The Rockstar was a phenomenon during Kraftwerk's era and 'Vespa' pays homage to that. Parallel to this the fading in and out of voices to provide a sense of revisiting the past as we travel back and fourth.

My overall thoughts on the album are extremely positive. Every track is refreshing with delicate tones, yet simultaneously suit an underground club perfectly. I highly recommend checking out their website and ordering their addictive new album following the link below!

http://www.bicepmusic.com