Portland - filous is the mysterious composer and producer that has managed to create infectious original music all while being entirely self-taught. His debut EP, Dawn, comes after his wildly popular remixes of Jose Gonzalez’s “Heartbeats”, The Glitch Mob’s “Our Demons” and Porter Robinson’s “Divinity”—and that’s naming just a few. Dawn is a five-song compilation of his own production and includes guest vocals by various artists including Jordan Leser, James Hersey and Bishop. The 18-year-old has managed to capture an audience with simple yet entrancing electro-pop that utilizes a wealth of different vocal styles as well as components of genres as wide ranging as blues, dance and electronica.
The enigmatic filous is as talented as he is youthful—he only graduated from high school a couple of weeks ago. Hailing from Vienna, filous has supposedly taught himself to play at least 20 instruments (all using youtube tutorials) and produced his EP completely on his own accord. Starting with remixes, filous gained traction as an artist with his Soundcloud page, eventually accruing millions of plays from his remixes alone. Adding to the mystery of filous’s persona is the fact that no one really knows what his real name is or even what his whole face looks like. In not revealing his identity, filous has been able to keep his personal and professional lives separate, thus making his musical façade a detached aspect of his actual identity.
Dawn begins with a track of the same title, with one of the longest fade ins of all the tracks and a beat littered with twinkly pop aspects that signal the beginning of filous’ vision. “Dawn” is comprised of fairly simple instrumental elements that align to establish a much more complex pattern. The song’s simplicity, and the album’s willingness to take a more minimalistic approach, is one of filous’ most obvious achievements as a producer. Effortless vocals over the already entrancing beat calls to the listener as the dawn does: “will we take this path / will you follow through / will you walk beside me realize / there’s something new in every dawn.” The intro track is an invitation into the musical world that filous has created.
filous’ doesn’t just give his listener a disciplined take on electro pop. The EP’s third track, “Better Off” is wonderfully upbeat, using both male and female vocalists to conjure the conflict between staying and going. Josh Roa and Bishop combat each other while a beat complete with handclaps, piano, bluesy guitar and perpetual bass keeps the tone of the track funky and contemporary. By the end of the album, “Dusk” quietly sends the listener into a soulful vibey place as the EP eventually ends with a hushed rush of voices. You are slowly exiting from filous’ other world.
A large part of Dawn’s allure is its easiness, there is no spectacle in filous’ production. He does electronica as it should be, with a focus on the lighter aspects. Though young filous may be, he’s proved himself to be a producer beyond his years.
Dawn is out now. For more information on filous, like his Facebook page.
Dakota Smith
Follow her on twitter in case she says something funny: @LikeTheStates
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