I can’t recall when I started using the expression ‘credit where credit’s due’, but I think it’s pretty timely here. This is Drinking From The Mirage, the debut LP from Perthling Guy Contact. If you’re into electronic music with a pulse, do yourselves a serious favour. Released courtesy of Maryos Syawish and Corey Kikos–heads of Butter Sessions and dudes of Sleep D–this album is a treat of Australiana sound. I’m not sure a body of work has had me more excited to dance amongst our native flora and fauna.
After a number of listens, I keep coming back to track four. ‘Feel The Feeling’ is a liquid massage. A pensive ooze made up of deliciously phased-out breaks, placid keys and tones that remind me of a transcendental mantra. The clincher is the array of birdlife Guy sprinkles throughout the piece. From magpies to kookaburras and cameos from a couple of croaking ravens, the artist takes us out into nature–away from email inboxes and Instagram.
The producer tells me ‘Feel The Feeling’ was “a last-minute addition to the album”, having come together in just one session. Initially intended to be a beatless ambient record, it soon had “the underlying groove of a breakbeat rhythm”. For Guy’s mind, “the record is positive and hopeful. It’s for those times when you just want to lie down and let the feeling wash over you.”
Put your feet up and try this one on for size.