Quantic – “Atlantic Oscillations” Review

Album: Atlantic Oscillations – Single

Artist: Quantic

Genre: #RPM

Sub-Genres: #Funky #house

Label: Tru Thoughts Records

Non-Airable Tracks: NONE

Description: Over the past few years, it seemed like funk was making a small comeback. Calvin Harris’ 2017 album, Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1 helped initiate this revival with the hit singles, “Slide” and “Feels.” Two years later, however, it seems that funk’s resurrection has hit another speed bump as hip-hop continues to dominate the charts. In order to help get the snowball running, Quantic has broken the silence after five years with his new single, “Atlantic Oscillations.”

The track opens up with a simple kick drum, accompanied by bongos, and a raw, tasteful bass line that’s unusual for most dance songs. Not long after, the strings, which strangely sound like the melody to St. Vincent’s “Sugarboy,”  join the mix. The strings do sound pretty and go with the rest of the instruments very well; however, they also convey some sense of artificiality. Throughout the rest of the song, the drums get more complex as Quantic adds in hi-hats, snares, and toms to add to the track’s funkiness. About a quarter of the way in, Quantic throws in dreamy piano chords, as well as a disco guitar that fares well against some of the songs that one would find on Todd Terje’s brilliant It’s Album Time. The song gets a little more electronic near the end, with the introduction of buzzy synths and sound effects. While these instruments do push the track’s colors to its limits, some of the sound effects seem to ruin the aesthetic, as they clash with the natural-sounding instruments.

Overall, “Atlantic Oscillations” is a nice effort by Quantic towards funk. Musically, the track is well-composed, almost everything flows together, and there is enough diversity to easily make the six minutes fly by. One of the pitfalls, however, is that some instruments sound more realistic than others, which disrupts the harmony. Due to this, I would recommend this track to the more seasoned EDM listeners.

7/10

Sounds Like: Calvin Harris, Todd Terje

Recommended Tracks: Atlantic Oscillations

Reviewer’s Name: Nick Ramos

Date of Review: 03/27/2019