I don’t know if he was looking to switch things up or go back to basics, but the two singles Ethereal has unveiled for his upcoming I Think I’m On Fire 2 have been stellar. Don’t get me wrong. I love the warped, glitchy, 8-bit Ethereal that showed up on Final Fantasy, but I’m a bigger fan of his sample-based production, especially his discerning use of old-school soul. We saw that in full effect on lead single “Eraser”, and now he’s back at it again with the equally hypnotic “Much More.”
Using L.T.D.’s 1976 smash “Love Ballad” as a base, Ethereal takes the track’s signature line, “what we have is much more than they can see,” slows it down and beefs it up by compressing the vocal tenor into a deep bass. From there he throws in a smooth beat, adds a touch of horns and brings in the honey-tongued Alexandria, a frequent Awful collaborator, to handle the hook. It’s not groundbreaking, but, man, this shit just glides. Ethereal’s faded flow has never lent itself to mind-blowing bars or inventive wordplay, but he has a keen understanding of how to use his voice to complement and accentuate the warm and diffuse atmospheres he constructs, and here he exudes an aura of hazy cool.
The video, shot and directed by GAHM and edited by Ethereal himself, is fairly nondescript. For the most part, it’s just him and Alexandria in downtown Atlanta late at night with the gold dome of the capitol building, the Fulton Street Olympic rings and other landmarks occasionally looming in the background. Like many Awful productions, it’s basic and lo-fi, but don’t let that distract you from the head-blown dopeness Ethereal is offering up.
More Info
Bandcamp: ethereeeal.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @etheeereal
Instagram: @ethereal
SoundCloud: @ethereal
Twitter: @etheeereal