Astronauts of Antiquity (Feat Deploi) “Paradise”
Astronauts of Antiquity (Feat Depoi) are a three piece musical collective based in Southern California, have released a new single, “Paradise”, featuring the talents of House of Vibe rapper Deploi. While this three piece hasn’t been on the scene for long, they’ve earned a well deserved reputation as one of the most restless and exploratory units working in contemporary music today. It’s a socially conscious work that attacks modern conglomerates like Monsanto and other injustices while still proving themselves determined to make listeners move, tap their feet, and engage with the track in a physical way. The collective’s resident production ace and third member, Ivica, frames the song’s blend of various elements with astonishing clarity and a clear ear for balancing the various sonic strains into an unified whole. This is a bi-coastal effort of sorts that brings together the hard bounce of West Coast rap music with the fluent electronica and biting intelligence common to New York City rappers and experimental outfits.
The lyrical content takes a number of inventive turns and rapper Deploi expertly swings his way through each passage without ever calling too much attention to his vocal style. The vocabulary often pushes itself into multi-syllabic lines, but frequently confines itself to a relatively restrained style emphasizing directness and accessibility over verbal gymnastics. Deploi has immense style, however, that enables him to capitalize on the dark humor and withering judgment embedded within the text. He handles the verses while the collective’s primary singer, India, delivers melodic vocals in the chorus that are increasingly processed as the song develops.
Astronauts of Antiquity (Feat Deploi) take a largely minimalist approach towards instrumentation, relying primarily on thunderous bass notes and colorful keyboard lines wafting through the mix, but other things take their turn as well. B. Rhyan’s compositionally minded guitar never takes center stage, but his understated polish brings added layers to the song. The music is an excellent, almost jovial, counterpoint to the aforementioned dark humor, accusation, and angry sarcasm powering the song. The accompanying video with the song is a powerful visual cavalcade of horrors intermixed with moments of surprising humor. The chorus drives home the darkness in the song as each refrain stretches and spins itself into increasingly crazed directions. While the outfit looks some to the past with their lyrical and musical mix, Astronauts of Antiquity (Feat Depoi) are ultimately grounded in the present and future in a way that challenges listeners without ever alienating them from the reasons they seek music out to begin with.
“Paradise” sets the bar high for future efforts, but Astronauts of Antiquity (Feat Depoi) will surely cover it. This is an outfit with creativity and passion to burn, but their crowning achievement is how they push their songs forward with such confidence and apparently effortless depth. The best artists always make things look easy. “Paradise” swings and moves with irresistible force, but its confidence distinguishes it most of all.
YOU TUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdrain__tEbm2ueSJKUwFsA
Michael Saulman