At this point, I don’t think it’s melodramatic to say that I want the old Arty back. I was hoping that the musical monstrosity he released in the form of last month’s “Bloodfire” would turn out to be a momentary lapse in judgement, but he’s followed it up with a track titled “Distorted Love” which is almost as bad.
Further distancing himself from the emotionally intelligent sort of progressive trance that has become his calling card, Arty begins “Distorted Love” with painfully cliché bass house wobbles. What follows is a buildup-drop scheme so formulaic that any respectable music fan will reflexively tune it out.
To its credit, “Distorted Love” does exhibit better sound design than comparable music on the market – and better than “Bloodfire,” at that. Nonetheless, at a time when the youngest generation of electronic music fans outgrow the main stage in droves, it’s confusing to see a producer as capable as Arty put his stamp of approval on such passé releases.
“Distorted Love” by Arty is slated for official release through Anjunabeats on June 17th. Until then, you can hear a preview of the track by clicking on the SoundCloud player above.