Datastar – “Don’t Panic”
Datastar is a songwriting and music production collective who blend EDM, pop, rock, and hip-hop. Based in New York City they’re a mix of musicians and music enthusiasts, including everything from a DJ to a record store owner. We recently caught up with their electro-groove single “Don’t Panic”. And the first thing that came to my mind was: How can you say anything bad about a track that can be played at any time during a party, or at the club, and the crowd will absolutely love it. Solid, funky, and beautifully crafted Datastar’s take on a modern techno-based style is undeniably stunning. There’s nothing better than dimming the lights, cranking up the volume, and rinsing a bit of pure foot-stomping groove.
After years of writing off techno and its derivatives as being less interesting, more programmatic, and ultimately less groovy than drum and bass, I finally came across the work of Datastar. I was blown away by the subtle manipulation of rhythm and the complexity of “Don’t Panic”. It makes a lot of drum and bass seem quite programmatic in comparison.
The Datastar work has a level of invention and genius that has completely changed my view of certain Techno deviations. Datastar’s pieces slowly draw you into this introspective world that is beautiful, daring, original and evocative. And that’s pretty much what “Don’t Panic” achieves.
My favorite type of EDM will always be the kind that depicts human emotions in a way that just can’t be captured through more organic forms of expression. When it hits the right notes, the human voice strikes the outer reaches of your soul, but electronic music can sound like a million brain processes firing at once.
It has the ability to encapsulate the complexities of this thing we call life. All while making you trip out and gyrate to the fierce movement of the beat. Datastar make this kind of music, as they hit the center of your sensory system with the sheer amount of groove and vibe they infuse into what appears to be a simple dance-floor song like “Don’t Panic”.
This dance track is massive. The emotions come full bore. The textures and depths of field are incredible – bass, drums, synths and robotic vocals fill the sonic spectrum dynamically. And that damn groove just keeps on coming – “Slide…bounce…don’t panic!” The track’s big ideas and embellishment techniques combine in ways that few other producers could imagine, let alone execute.
The track, does indeed begin on a set of luminous synth notes, allowing the bass to begin to pulsate, building in intensity while being joined by the percussion. The sonic ecosystem then unfolds without hesitance, and from there “Don’t Panic” becomes a perfect record to get lost in and to dance to.
OFFICIAL LINKS: INSTAGRAM – SOUNDCLOUD – YOUTUBE
