Cambria Instruments
It has been almost twenty years since Nathan Fake burst onto the electronic scene with the warped psychedelic drone of ‘The Sky Was Pink’, his breakout single. In the intervening years, Fake has presented his music eclectically and excitingly, drawing from the various pockets of electronica, from the lush pastoral sounds of the critically acclaimed Drowning in a Sea of Love to the rhythmic dance-friendly Hard Islands and the vibrant experimental sounds of Providence. His latest offering, Crystal Vision, dances in glowing sunshine, shimmering and shifting in a mesmeric manner.
Crystal Vision is Fake’s second album on Cambria Instruments, the label he co-founded alongside Wesley Matsell in 2014. 2020’s Blizzards mixed bold breakbeats with swooning melodies as Fake flirted with the dancefloor on the woozy nighttime twitch of ‘North Brink’, the glacial-like garage of ‘Torch Song’, and the upbeat sparkle of ‘Eris & Dysnomia’. Blizzards boldly twisted in new directions, but Crystal Vision dips and swerves more subtly, the tempo gently fluctuating. It feels like some of Fake’s most focused work.
Crystal Vision is filled with a glittery warmth; its industrial beats feel like they have been dipped in sunshine by Fake, who is equally capable of entrancing and making you want to dance. On the italo-disco flavoured ‘Vimana’, the synths ascend euphorically, the melody hypnotic, while ‘The Grass’ is similarly mesmeric with its persistent thumping drums. The beat on ‘Hawk’ pogos along as if in a trance-induced state in a similar manner to the vibrant dance banger ‘Boss Core’.
The title track delves into the psychedelic territory where Fake is so comfortable, with its choppy, slicing breakbeats countered by the eerie twinkling synth keys. ‘Bibled’ similarly uses fast-paced breakbeats but is pervaded by a sense of ethereal warmth from the pulsing synths. ‘AMEN 96’ is a standout moment, starting with slow trip-hop style beats before accelerating into some fast-paced jungle beneath the mournful, funeral-evoking synths and eventually cascading into an explosive drum ‘n’ bass breakdown.
The album bubbles with kinetic energy throughout, encouraging movement, but it also weaves in the emotional textures for which Fake has become renowned. ‘CMD’ provides a spacious, mellow moment of meditation, but even amongst the glitches and twitches of Crystal Vision, there’s a hint of melancholy beneath the surface. But Fake lifts you up quickly, his music retaining the transcendent quality that gives it such an emotional warmth. As demonstrated perfectly on the closer, ‘Outsider’, where he teams up with fellow electronica guru Clark, Fake has the touch of a DJ, mixing propelling dance music with moments of bliss.