Not to be an absolute downer, but I had all but given up hope of ever hearing Flume and Emoh Instead's last collaborative body of work as the highly charismatic duo What So Not.
The Australian starlets five-year tenure together from a small bedroom studio in Sydney to the forefront of dance music culture has solidified the act as fan favorites across the globe. As one of the first signee's to Skrillex imprint OWSLA, What So Not embody the fun, uplighting and carefree side of dance music thanks largely to the gents prowess for crafting a distinct mixture of ambient sounds laced with bouncy house rhythms, various degrees of trap elements, and lush kicks that many producers/DJs still replicate to this day.
Since the release of their Quak EP in 2013, Flume's absense at live shows partly due to the success of his solo endeavours grew into speculation of a brief seperation from the What So Not collaboration. The What So Not name carried on strong with Emoh representing the acts music at packed venue spaces and music festival stages worldwide. A collaboration with LA beat maker RL Grime produced "Tell Me", one of the biggest releases of 2014 that reached commerical crossover success.
Many thought this achievement meant the duo would resume their partnership heading into 2015, but Flume squashed all hope in February by penning a heartfelt post officially announcing his departure from the collaboration. This somber news did bring one glorious revelation, a final What So Not EP with production from both Flume and Emoh was in its final stages of completion. That's all we were left to mull over for the last few months as the lead single "Gemini", which features a dreamy cast of vocals from rising Aussie songstress George Maple, blew up the airwaves but brought little news of when we'd finally hear the EPs full release.
That is until word broke out randomly that the highly anticapted collection of tracks would see the light of day on December 18th and now, we have the official stream a day ahead. First we have "Arrows", a hyperactive bounce beat that features production work with moomba king Dillon Francis and chill vocals from Dawn Golden. Then there is "Death Drive," a signature Melbourne House heavy heater that is treated to a lovely set of vocals from Sydney songstress KLP. Lastly, "Oddity" is a dark bass thumping heater that has one of the best cinamatic builds we've heard this year before a cluster of lush aesthetics takeover after the drop.
Overall, this EP has momentarily satisfied our hunger for new What So Not as we are excited to see where the project heads from here. Stream the EP below and be sure to grab your free download before Fridays official release. Enjoy
What So Not – Gemini EP | Free Download