Production Aesthetics 02: Darius - Espoir

Hello!

This week I'm back with another production aesthetics blog, this time focusing on the French house/nu-disco producer, Darius. This guy has been one of my favourites for a good while now, and every time I come back to listen to one of his songs in particular - 'Espoir' - I'm always blown away by how much of a stunner it is.

'Espoir' (which translates to 'hope' in English), is a downtempo house track or 'french touch' which many regard Darius' style fits under. This track is a fantastic example of 'less is more', its pretty minimal in terms of elements present, yet it just feels so full and living. The overall production, arrangement and sound design is excellent; and in this blog I want to figure out why this song feels so great to listen to, and do some research into Darius' workflow.

How it impacts me - the listener

So firstly, on first listen and in comparison to the aesthetics present in my last blog on this; the track is very clean and colourful, whereas the Tame Impala remix felt washed out, vintage and vibrant. I believe Darius reflects this in his workflow, as he mentioned in an interview with Red Bull Music:

"The studio was great. In my work space, I really need everything to be clean.”

This is pretty majorly contrasted with Kevin Parker's workflow, illustrated by the front cover of the last aesthetics blog, with his non-conventional use of hardware and the free-flowing randomness.

Why I picked a Darius track as my second aesthetic analysis? Regardless of genre there's some key similarities between the two songs, and production elements I aim to understand and draw from in both.

This is primarily the use of effects both subtle and encompassing to curate the vibe of the song.

For the first 50 seconds, we are treated to the beautiful chord progression via electronic keys layered with a fairly simple sub-bass to fill it out, possibly a moog or a simple sine wave sound. These keys evolve and brighten with the use of automation and low-pass EQing to provide some natural tension before the main section begins. You can hear the reverb gets more intense as the keys are revealed, before its decay is dropped off right before the beat kicks in at 0:53.

At this stage I know I'm in for another summery road-trip dance track, but what makes this initial build exciting is that there's no other accompanying elements to give more context in terms of rhythm; this leaves you waiting for that drop and it feels very good when it all comes together. When the drums join the mix, the rhythmic arrangement of the chords instantly lock into place and along with the excellent use of side-chain compression to enhance the groove - it's very danceable.

I know too much side-chain can feel fatiguing and off-putting sometimes, yet Darius executes the effect perfectly in that it is an integral part of the track's groove. With the drums now into play you can also hear some subtle, slow flanger washing through the keys. A distant lead instrument which almost sounds like a vocal then joins in soon after and glides over the song; the slow/lazy bend to the two different notes reinforces the laid-back groove. All of this culminating together, feels like it gets sucked into the power of the kick. It's this push and pull effect that gives the elements swing, and almost feels like the instrumentation is being washed in and out through the mix like a wave - and for me that's what gives this track the feeling of summer.

Darius in Red Bull Studios Paris, source: http://www.redbullstudios.com/paris/articles/red-bull-studios-paris-session-darius

In regards to the drums themselves, they play a huge role in what makes this track great, as they do in all of Darius' discography. From the sound design, the kick is characteristic of a lot of french house (Gesaffelstein for example). It provides the majority of the sub-bass and bass frequencies, and is also very much centralised in an imaging sense and very present in the mix. Whilst it's transient is quite punchy, there's not too much click which provides plenty of room for the brightness of Darius' percussive elements and snare layering.

These drums feel great primarily due to the timing, sound design and rhythmic fill elements creating a sense of an organic performance. The mix also helps the drums feel very smooth and natural, with the hi-hat elements dynamically changing in level and the open-hat hits being appropriately louder than other percussive elements. The subtle reverb from the snare helps to glue the drums together, along with a reversed ride to give it some style and character.

So in digesting all of this, whilst I'm getting the feeling of a cruisy summer track; I also get the feeling of where this producer is from. An artist sounding like where they're from is such a cool and important trait to have, and it really helps you relate with their message and aesthetic. For me, I feel like I should cruising through the streets of Paris. And the overall atmosphere has this air of classiness to it; in which the piano/keys probably attribute a fair bit to.

Reading more into that Red Bull article, I believe Darius' appreciation of analog equipment and working in a space with physical hardware is what allows him to achieve injecting a lot of life and warmth into a primarily electronic piece:

“It’s always more interesting to turn knobs and switches to achieve a result. In this case it felt like I was actually molding the sound with my own hands.”

A pretty good visual description of Darius' aesthetic. Smart casual clothing on a beach. source: http://www.lagasta.com/darius-helios-feat-wayne-snow/

So what gives me the sense of 'Espoir' being a road-trip song? After the first main section, the breakdown introduces the keys in a more traditional grand piano sound; coupled with the lead we heard initially in the previous chorus, but now it's at the forefront of the mix and guides you towards the next chorus. The use of effects to build tension returns once again yet this time with delays which spray the brightness of the piano's attack off to the sides, and a high-pass filter washes out the entire mix before releasing you into an entirely new world of sound. This chorus feels more suppressed, yet introduces a smooth arpeggiator synth which again effortless glides along with the groove just like the chords in the first main section. Throughout the chorus the keys slowly return until the climax of the section, where the outro then takes us back to the traditional piano sound - with a diminished chord to signify the finish.

It's this journey based atmosphere, dynamic sound design and the modulating of already present instrumentation which brings it all together and keeps audiences engaged. There's no real 'white noise build-up' or anything that makes it sound inherently electronic and harsh. It's an extremely well put together track, with a level of production that makes it feel fresh each listen.

If you'd like to check out more of Darius' work, and hear the aesthetic he injects into each song, I've embedded his Spotify page below.

- Lachy

References

Darius: “Helios” (feat. Wayne Snow) « La.Ga.Sta.. (2017). Lagasta.com. Retrieved 14 July 2017, from http://www.lagasta.com/darius-helios-feat-wayne-snow/

RED BULL STUDIOS PARIS SESSION : DARIUS. (2017). Redbullstudios.com. Retrieved 14 July 2017, from http://www.redbullstudios.com/paris/articles/red-bull-studios-paris-session-darius