It is hard to stand out in the electronic based music scene today. We have seen it with house, trap and dubstep music.

The common story is that one person will break through to the mainstream and then everyone will start to follow suit making the genre boring and overdone. It is kind of like vampire movies. If you have seen one over-sexualized creature of the night, you have seen them all.

I digress as we look to the new chillwave artist, iamforest to give a new take on the genre.
Vancouver-based musician Luke Hartle, under the monomer iamforest, released his five-track EP “Armies and Air Raids” on Nov. 5.

His music stands out in a sea of clashing electronic noise for numerous reasons. For starters, it is very original for an artist just starting out in a very watered-down genre. There is a relaxing, dream-like quality to his sound that is distinct to the genre but he makes it his own.

He layers multiple sounds on top of each other to keep your ears guessing. He also plays guitar on his tracks which is not seen much in electronic music.

“Armies and Air Raids” has a lot of depth for a five-track EP. Typically, when new artists will throw together a handful of songs they just record and pray.

This EP sounds like each song was thought out and placed perfectly to keep listeners’ attention. The mood of each song does not stray too far off the core sound. Even the song “Your Lights,” the only acoustic song on the EP, makes sense.

The best part about iamforest is that he gives out his music for free. Many young artists are doing this, but in an artform where many musicians will try anything to make a quick buck and keep their name relevant, this is bold.

His reasons are valid though. In his SoundCloud bio he says that, “…I would prefer for everyone to have the music to listen to and share with others than to have it sit there doing nothing with a price tag on it.”

He does accept donations as well if people are feeling generous.

Iamforest has a modest following right now but with more exposure he could really become a big deal. His music has the quality and he’s taking steps toward gaining popularity. Hopefully we see more of that quality soon and possibly an album.

Notable tracks include “Wasted Time,” “Your Lights” and “Structures.”

You can find his music at these links.

https://www.soundcloud.com/iamforest,
http://iamforest.bandcamp.com,
http://iamforestofficial.tumblr.com and on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/iamforest

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