Flux Pavilion | Tesla

Background

Anyone who was in early on the electronic music craze has heard of Flux Pavilion.  The English DJ was a forefather of the dubstep scene and is known for his heavy melodic drops.  His name defines the 2010 dubstep scene, and his releases on UKF, probably the most prominent dubstep promotion channel, have garnered over 140 million views combined.  And now, after various releases and EP's, this icon finally has finally released a debut album in "Tesla."

Review

Listen to "Tesla"

For a name so ingrained into dubstep culture, there's a surprising lack of dubstep on this album.  There's certainly more than a fair share of classic Flux Pavilion, but it's clear he also left plenty of room for experimentation, which is definitely welcome.  Songs like "International Anthem (feat. Doctor)" and "Vibrate" are reminiscent of Flux Pavilion's bass-filled heyday.  Both feature that heavy, multi-layered synth crunch that define his signature sound, but again, it's the lack of this sound that makes this album interesting.  Take the title track, for example.  "Tesla Theme" is nothing but the sound of a tesla coil, harsh, grating, yet strangely beautiful electronic grit, playing haunting harmonies.  If anything, it's more of an intro than a track, and it's a nice lead in to the album and ties together the album title and artwork with the music.  The rest of the tracks cover a wide variety of genres, from the flittery, flowing future bass of "Emotional," through the syncopated moombah vibes of "Who Wants to Rock (feat. Riff Raff)," to the impossible to genre tracks like "I Got Something" and "We Are Creators (feat. Soulsonic Force)" and everything in between.  One thing this album did perfectly was balancing hard and soft.  Songs like "What You Gonna Do About It," "Never See the Light (feat. Andrea Martin)," and "Pogo People" are, while not typical Flux Pavilion, still very complex, energetic tracks that still feel distinctly his.  Meanwhile, other songs take on a more unique style.  "Emotional," as mentioned earlier, is a wonderfully melodic future bass track featuring vocals from Matthew Koma, who has worked with artists like Zedd on similar tracks.  "Shoot Me (feat. Jakkcity)" is a funky collaboration between Flux Pavilion and Big Voyage, with saxophones driving a floaty, spacey beat with some deep house elements thrown in.  "Feels Good (feat. Tom Cane)" features pop-like, artfully detuned vocals on top of a faster, chord-driven breakdown.  And finally, "Ironhearted (feat. BullySongs)," probably the farthest from Flux Pavilion's old style, feels like something straight off a pop album.  It's a fantastic emotional track to end a diverse album.

For his debut album, Flux Pavilion took the time to fully flush out his thoughts and ideas and was able to put them together into a coherent album that speaks volumes.  With this album, he has taken an important leap from EDM producer superstar towards being a musician.  This album ins't a production masterpiece, but it's not unclean either and the creativity that Flux Pavilion gets across turns "Tesla" into a great debut album, and I couldn't have asked for more.  8/10

Notable Remixes

This album is still new, so there aren't any notable remixes yet.  Be the first!