Marshmello

One of the most unique artists to surface over, Marshmello, has been blowing up since he first popped out of the bag last year. Further concreting his sound, the masked producer just dropped his debut album entitled \”Joytime\”.

\"Marshmello

Across the album, Marshmello paints a vivid picture of his sound he\’s going for: a cheerful fusion of melodic synths with crunchy basses and trap-style drums. Despite its relatively simplistic sound design palate, there is much to be said in favor of his use of arguably \”cheesy\” sounds to produce something complex and unique. With his fittingly cheesy branding, it\’s no wonder he\’s blowing up.

Let\’s take a look at some of the album\’s highlights:

Blocks

Kicking off the album in the perfect way, Blocks is probably the best example of the \”Marshmello sound\”. Happy melodic synths and vocal chops blend with pretty standard trap vocal loops and hip-hop drums to produce a rare combination. The way I would explain it is sounds like what Avicii and Skrillex\’s love child would produce if he was shown an 808 drum machine for the first time.

Know Me

This track has probably the catchiest \”hook\” of all: \”Everybody know me, everybody know Marshmello\”. The build up sounds pretty predictable, but builds into a Jersey Club style kick pattern with a percussive pluck synth that sounds like it was ripped straight out of \”Where R Ü Now\”. I wouldn\’t be upset if i was Jack Ü though, because the result is contagiously catchy, and headbouncing is unavoidable.

Keep It Mello

Keep It Mello is noteworthy because its powerful branding value for Marshmello. The vocals from rapper Omar Linx reinforce the theme of \”keeping it Mello\” which definitely sticks with you. The accompanying beat is more chill and definitely meant to frame the vocals rather than blow up a dance floor.