This week on Introducing I have picked out an artist different to those I usually use for the feature. By this, I mean that it is neither a rock band or a British artist. Twin Shadow is Dominican-born New York producer George Lewis, some one who is beginning to make waves in the music industry in America. It is difficult to put an exact definition on Twin Shadow’s music, there is so much depth and variety to it, which makes him such a noteworthy artist. Whether it is an uptempo (At My Heels) or slower relaxed (Forget) sound he produces, all of his songs hook you in and utterly entrance you.
My personal favourite from his debut album Forget is Castles In The Snow, the first song I heard and one that is undeniably beautiful. The song, as well as the rest of the album, proves how the amount of production now available to artists, can be used to create phenomenal and authentic-sounding music. Unlike the over-produced quality of a large amount of music in the charts at the moment, this uses synthesisers and auto-tune to create haunting melodies, layered with sparse and harmonic vocals. The songs are romantic and low-key, singing of moonlight and daydreams. The synthesized sound, though, twinges everything with a melancholy that is weaved seamlessly amongst the sentimental lyrics throughout the album. The music fits in among the 80s revival currently sweeping through music, but Twin Shadow achieves a unique and gracious tone which makes him, in my opinion, in league with the brilliance of Hurts. In addition to this, a lot of 80s music can often be regarded as cheesy, and Twin Shadow’s sound is so far removed from that tag it makes it questionable whether this is really 80s revival, or a modern rediscovery of music making techniques that happened to be popular in the 80s.
Either way, Twin Shadow is definitely worthy of attention. Providing a fresh and easy to listen to sound that is becoming trendier by the day, he is currently a hidden gem who will hopefully continue to build on the beauty of Forget and especially Castles In The Snow.
