by Isabel Thomson Officer

Nautiluss is one of those artists that is pretty difficult to categorize. We like him because he’s well, Canadian, and who doesn’t like Canadians? Maple leaves aside, he’s also a total genius when it comes to sample and sound production. ‘Sample wizard’ is a name that often gets thrown around when trying to describe his body of work, and we definitely agree he’s a pro in this department.

His latest EP Unravel marks his debut under the moniker Pyramid Lake which is out now on the Tamed Musiq imprint. Showcases his amazing ability to make truly soulful dance music, the EP features three beautiful tracks “No Promises, No Disappointments”, "We All Need Love" and the title track “Unravel”. This groovy EP has all the potential for some very, very high rotation play this summer.

The first track “No Promises, No Disappointments” opens with soft high keys and an off beat snare that sounds like gentle summer raindrops falling from the sky. Next up the driving bassline beat enters which is followed with a soft background melodic two chord progression that lies quietly in the background before the percussive snare is added over the top. As the chord progression crescendos, and the track builds, an acoustic hand drum pattern chimes in. After a while, the hand drums hand drums drop out and make way for a beautiful high-pitched female voice scatting and weaving in and out between the introduction of the four note descending synth progression. Percussion, melody and vocals all work in harmony on this track to create a joyful and uplifting opener to this stunning EP.

Next on the EP is the title track “Unravel” which opens with a strong beat and a stringed chord progression which plays and then echoes into the background, returning lightly every two bars. A guitar strum enters briefly before fading out as the chord progression returns with more force. As the chord melody builds it then takes second stage as a funky bass guitar melody takes over which is complimented by a one note guitar strum at the end of every second bar.  The percussion continues as strings suddenly round off the first part of the track and kick snares take over alongside an altered version of the same melodic chord progression. Utilizing his signature sampling style, Pyramid Lake then breaks out sampling Charday’s vocals. The track then returns full circle to the original chord progression with triangles on the beat before closing out with the amazing vocals looping as they fade in and out in the background as the track  closes out with the bass beat and percussion.

Closing out Pyramid Lake’s debut EP is the track “We All Need Love” opening with a strong beat, and a male vocal loop which sounds like the word “yeah” towards the end of each phrase, which will continue throughout the closing track. Quirky warped sounds that trickle throughout sounding like frogs and cicadas creating an almost billabong like soundscape .The wobbly melody enters creating a bouncy vibe and energy which is offset by the snare drum. An eerie synth melody enters and peeks before fading out once again as the track remains driven by the bouncing melody and snare drum. Towards the second half of the track, the main wobble drops out and is replaced by eerie ascending notes that fade out. All of this creates a weird, ethereal atmosphere and dreamlike energy  as the track rounds out and returns to the main melody but this time with a disco-style beat. Despite featuring several melodies and amphibian like sounds that twist and turn throughout this track, for some reason they all work amazingly together to create a track that is something very unique but totally funky. Loving it!