Flume has been on my music radar since I was a sophomore in high school when one of my best friends, Andrew, and I bonded over our love of his album, Skin. We would jam out to “Never Be Like You” and other songs in the car for hours.
Flume- born Harley Streten- has been a huge name in the Australian DJ scene since he began creating music under his first persona: HEDS back in 2010. Since then, he’s released multiple albums and even won a Grammy for his 2016 album Skin.
However, his most recent release, a mixtape titled “Hi This Is Flume”, is my favorite of his works to date. I can (and have many times) listened to the 38-minute record all the way through without ever losing interest. Each song is a completely new vibe, but it all feels so in sync as a whole.
Streten uses sounds that are unexpected and even considered harsh by some to create sounds that have never been used before. This creates an exciting game in which you never know what you’re going to get next.
Comparing two songs from the mixtape: High Beams & ╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌╫§╜φ°⌂▌ (or as I call it, #5) we get two very different sounds. In the first, it’s a fast-paced track that includes a rapper with a unique voice, while the latter is a dreamier almost transitional song. Despite those songs feeling like polar opposites, they both fit inside the album beautifully due to Flume’s ability to create a harmony with the sounds he uses.
The most impressive part about this mixtape to me is its transitions. If you were to listen to it all the way through (how all albums should be listened to the first time around) then you would notice that there is never a break in between tracks. Each song’s end connects with the next song’s beginning creating an almost infinite sound.
I had never been a big fan of Electronic Dance Music, but Flume’s sound felt like the bridge between the music I was already into and that genre. He does what isn’t expected turns his songs into pieces of art. He has been credited as the pioneer of future bass for a reason, bringing a new level to the genre of EDM.
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