No matter what source material he’s working with—be it a Gucci Mane verse, a Mitski song, or a Pokémon sample—Ryan Hemsworth wants you to know that he loves this stuff, sincerely and without reservation. He’s more than just an armchair curator, though; in the last few years, he's developed both a well-defined aesthetic and a deft hand. Where other DJs seek the thrill of juxtaposition alone, Hemsworth excels at making divergent tracks feel of a piece. Whether he’s flipping Tinashe or Blink-182, it always sounds like Ryan Hemsworth.
Lately, Hemsworth’s evangelism has found a new platform in Secret Songs, a quasi-label where he handpicks tracks from up-and-coming producers for an audience of the faithful. He’s built Secret Songs into a sort of anti-PC Music; in place of ironic distance, there’s a loving embrace—the label’s mantra states that this is a "friends only" affair. Naturally, the songs tend to hew to a type, which is to say that any of them could cleanly slot into Hemsworth’s DJ sets. One of these tracks, "Keep U Warm" by Seattle producer Lucas, was an early standout, a set of disparate sounds, ranging from wind chimes to cricket chirps, sequenced with the delicacy and precision of a music box. For his latest project, Hemsworth teams with Lucas for a collaborative EP that serves as Hemsworth’s first Secret Songs release. The end result finds the two producers engaging in a generous give-and-take that plays to each of their strengths.
The biggest surprise here is that the largely unknown Lucas often sets the tone. Whereas Hemsworth’s recent solo work favors crisp, clean lines, these tracks tend to crackle, buzz and fade. Melodies waft in as if through an open window and often drift off just as unceremoniously. Vocals are treated past the point of intelligibility, serving as textures that rub up against other elements in the mix. Given the gauzy sonic palette, emotions feel implied, rather than announced—not a bad look for Hemsworth, who can occasionally veer into preciousness on his own. There’s a sort of hazy sheen over Taking Flight that makes even the big crescendos feel slightly blurry, like vaseline smeared on a camera lens.
Thankfully, Hemsworth’s knack for pulling heartstrings remains intact, as does his skillful, trap-influenced drum programming, if it's used judiciously. While "From Grace" is the only track on here that feels like it’s built for the dance floor, there are points in all of these songs where, for a brief few seconds, things snap into focus rhythmically before retreating back into the haze. Lucas likes to work with snippets of found sounds and every rattle, flutter, and squeak here feels like it’s adding up to something, nudging the song toward a resolution. Drums are often employed only to stitch together all the sounds floating in the mix, suddenly making you aware of a beat that was there all along. This is warm and unhurried electronic music that's built for Sunday mornings.
At just over 20 minutes, Taking Flight is hardly ambitious, but it's a casual experiment that manages to feel vital throughout. It serves as one hell of a calling card for Lucas, whose previous output is limited to a handful of SoundCloud tracks. Meanwhile, a guy who’s made a career out of bending other people’s songs to fit his aesthetic gets to demonstrate that he’s just as adept at doing the exact opposite. And in allowing a less seasoned artist to eat away at the edges of his sound, Hemsworth has somehow managed to bring his gifts as a producer into even sharper focus.
