MAN MERCURY

Man Mercury is the artistic creation of Glasgow based art rock and electronic artist Alastair Tibbs.  He has released his double A - sided single which features the dark electronic singles 'Meridian' and 'Seizefire'.  Alastair has released 3 singles 'Fisherman', 'Transmission' and 'Planet Zero' on the lead up to the double A - side release.  In his music he delves into the dark world of electronic, using different approaches to create a soundscape that is unusual, captivating and completely unique to him.

The double A- sided single features dark electronic singles 'Meridian' and 'Seizefire'.  The fusion of raw electronic sounds with a dark maze of synths, sampled elements and percussive moments.  'Meriden' begins with a retro computerised electronic sounds, the dark wave style combined with those digital tones reach a depth that sucks you into the world of Man Mercury.  The bass line sits with a low tremolo that pulsates all the way through the track, the sparse percussive elements dancing over the top come and go as the track progresses, with the bass line present all the way through.   The background vocal is dripping in a robotic vocoder effect, which keeps that dark unusual atmosphere going as it moves in and out of the mix.  The song continually builds and gains a lot of depth with the addition of more synth elements, the track has a breakdown section around half way through the track where we hear synth strings being introduced.  His vocals are then accompanied by vocoder harmonies and continually expands on the soundscape as it builds to it's climax, it then falls away at the last moments of the track as it approaches the end, leaving only Alastair's vocals to finish out the song in an almost lonely and vulnerable way.

On the opening of 'Siezefire' there is a very Stranger Things-esque vibe going on in the bass line, with the rolling arpeggiation that is happening.  The track has those same tones and colours as the previous track, however this one takes a more darker and deeper approach, the percussive elements are more uniform and the synth element are hazy sounding which creates a very unusual atmosphere and has you falling into it's warped soundscape.  You almost find your self sitting on edge with the synthesiser melodies, they become distorted and twist out of shape giving you a feeling of uneasiness, yet you are completely spellbound to its rhythm.  Alastair's vocals use quite a bit of reverb and delay, which really adds to to the sonic outer space energy.  The track has a rhythm change at the 3 minute mark and this change in pace takes the track to the end, the song ends pretty sudden, which is similar to 'Meridian' but with this one it is the instrumentation that guides the track out, leaving you wanting more.  

One thing that you will notice as soon as you hear these tracks is how well arranged they are, the placement of each instrument down to the intensity, the atmosphere and how Alistair is wanting to make you feel.  There is elements of the tracks that take an abstract form, really getting inside your head and lingers there for a time.  These are songs that have that hypnotic pull, whether you listen to them through headphones or in a live setting, the effect will be the exact same.

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