Photo by: TABBYCAT @tabbycat.uk
Somewhere in a gym, an unsuspecting moth has accidentally inspired a rave record.
That wonderfully mundane starting point tells you quite a lot about ‘Wings’, the first release in a new collaboration between Baby Dave, aka Soft Play’s Isaac Holman, and producer Erik Miles under The Works. It’s a track fascinated by the strange connections between ordinary observation, human behaviour and the slightly surreal experience of being alive.
What begins with floating vocal fragments, clipped guitars and spacious synths gradually locks itself into a driving dance pulse. Miles’ production occupies an interesting middle ground: detailed enough to reveal new textures through headphones, but physical enough that none of that intricacy gets in the way of movement.
Holman’s spoken-word delivery provides the counterweight. Against the ethereal production, his voice feels conversational and distinctly human, preventing ‘Wings’ from disappearing entirely into its own atmosphere. Comparisons to The Streets make sense in that respect, although the surrounding electronic haze pushes the track somewhere considerably stranger.
Then comes the chorus. Melodic, distant and unexpectedly radiant, it opens the track outward without disrupting its hypnotic quality. ‘Wings’ understands that experimental music doesn’t become less interesting simply because somebody remembers to write a hook.
The lyrics follow similarly unpredictable logic. Holman explains that the moth eventually led him towards “humans, raves, life, change and bugs amongst other things”, leaving listeners to decide how those ideas connect. That ambiguity suits a song built around transformation. A moth circling artificial light isn’t particularly far removed from people gathering beneath strobes at 2am if you’re willing to look at either situation strangely enough.
For Holman, ‘Wings’ continues Baby Dave’s exploration beyond the uncompromising alternative energy of Soft Play. For Miles, whose production credits already span artists including Kate Nash, Soft Play and HotWax, it provides an opportunity to push electronic experimentation towards something both accessible and peculiar.
Most importantly, neither side overwhelms the other. Holman’s personality grounds Miles’ production; Miles gives Holman’s observations somewhere unfamiliar to wander.
‘Wings’ succeeds because it never feels particularly concerned with explaining how all its pieces fit together. Alternative electronica, disco, rave, spoken word and a moth in a gym somehow end up occupying the same space.
At 2am in a dark basement, it’ll probably make perfect sense.
