outside is void, a Düsseldorf-based electro-pop project by Thomas Marcus, delivers a visceral listening experience in the debut full-length album “Light Gazer.” The eleven-track album whisks you away into its expansive acoustic realms, which are sophisticated and vividly imaginative in their design.
Each song is a universe of its own, coming to life through dense and immersive soundscapes and exploring the vagaries of the human condition. Dreamy synth ambiance, pulsing electronic beats, hazy vocal melodies, and other alluring sonic elements will make your senses surrender to the music.
The opening track titled “Track” feels like a portal transporting you into the album’s multiverse. Celestial synth melodies are the stand-out feature of this song. It swells and falls in tonality, giving a dynamic feeling to the music. Metallic chimes, warbling tunes, and deep bass notes add a spacey quality. The emotive vocal duet conveys the intensity of personal growth and maturity.
Tail” has a pensive and dark edge to its synth melodies. This coupled with an up-tempo beat and echoey vocals make you feel like you’re in an auditory mystery, chasing the sounds along all the turns and twists it takes.
“Shine” warps and distorts in texture, emitting both bright and brooding melodies. The backdrop is intricately layered with an assortment of electronic sounds, unraveling itself with every passing second.
Swooshing waves, trickling beeps, and psychedelic synth ambiance make up “Shore” and elevate this track to a trance-like journey.
“Gasoline” is luminous with radiant synth wooshes, blazing guitar riffs, and a pulsing rhythm. You feel a sense of invigoration pass through your body like a jolt of current.
Vibrant synth flourishes, booming riffs and basslines, and a gentle swaying tempo bring “Petals” a sonic vastness, allowing the listener to feel weightlessly suspended in the space, much like the harmonious male and female vocals. Lyrically, the song delves into feelings of wonder and awe for the life, nature, and consciousness in this abundant world. outside is void demonstrates immense skill in engineering sonic landscapes that capture the varying temperament in the lyrics.
“Far”, the final track in the album, blends ethereal melodies with a powerful synth atmosphere. Blaring basslines bloom in the background over a fluttering beat sequence. The song is also infused with dark and futuristic undertones that bring a formidable quality to the sound. The song’s finale is anti-climatic, in that, all of the grandeur and intricacy throughout the album culminates into a soft fading synth pulse, eventually ending in pure silence, much like the fate of life.
“Light Gazer” allows us to peer into the unbridled creativity and musical prowess residing within outside is void. It is no easy feat to engineer sounds to this level of coherent complexity while also retaining its ability to carry intense emotions and lyrical themes. Experience a stellar fusion of electronica and pop from outside is void in “Light Gazer” now!