deadmau5, a leading figure in electronic music, will unleash his sixth studio album W:/2016ALBUM/ (pronounced as ‘w drive 2016 album’) on December 2. The album is his first release as an independent artist via his own label mau5trap. The pre-order was officially launchesd on Friday, with the release of ‘Let Go’, featuring Grabbitz.
‘W:/2016ALBUM/’ is a mix of material written over the last few years, with ‘Let Go’, one of the album’s centrepiece selections, featuring moody atmospheric vocals from Grabbitz. The track was originally released as the instrumental ‘Silent Picture’, after which the deadmau5 created a bootleg vocal for the track, and renamed it, ‘Blood For The Bloodgoat’. Today it stands revised as the album-worthy ‘Let Go’.
Elsewhere on ‘W:/2016ALBUM/’ is a myriad of deadmau5’s original electronic compositions including ‘Cat Thruster’, ‘2448’ (written as the new anthem for Canadian hockey outfit, the Toronto Maple Leafs); the rising techno of the superb ‘Imaginary Friends’, inspired by deadmau5’s own love for gaming, specifically eSports; and the slow-building, ‘No Problem’, a song whose quirky intro of bells and synths is reminiscent of Tom Waits’ ‘What’s He Building In There’.
That the album can go from atmospheric to techno to old-school synths is reflective of where deadmau5 is right now musically.
“I’m starting to appreciate or at least come to grips with that it’s okay to just end the song and then do another one. I’m not a DJ, I’m not up there blending songs together in a harmonious way that aren’t mine, that create this seamless flow,” he says.
You can pre-order ‘W:/2016ALBUM’ here.
