- An eclectic, 140 BPM-centric showing from a seasoned bass music connoisseur.
- Wedged between two editions of the Irish producer's long-established drum & bass series Shelflife, Feeling Normal underlines Calibre's artistic versatility. Centred around 140 BPM, the album shifts from experimental ambience to skippy garage through lumbering dubstep, all the while retaining elements of the distinct, highly musical drum & bass sound the Northern Irish producer and DJ has cultivated over two decades.
On his February RA Podcast, Calibre showcased his sonic versatility in a mix that moved smoothly through warm ambience, swaggering dub, funky garage and tight, pulsating drum & bass. Feeling Normal has this same fluidity. The title track, which scatters piano chords across a choppy garage beat, was first written on Valentia Island in Ireland around seven years ago. Various compositions around the 140 BPM mark have gradually piled up in Martin’s portfolio since.
You can sense traces of another recent creative detour, 2019's ambient album Planet Hearth, in the album's tense, atmospheric introduction. Crucially, however, the opening track "Barren" quickly signals the the LP's rhythmic intensity: a tinny percussive sequence rattles through a high-pass filter and against the roof of your brain, as pads drift in the backdrop. At the one minute mark, a deep, sub-bass driven beat appears, foreshadowing the sonic depths in which Calibre will plunge listeners throughout the record.
On "Badman," for example, captivating ambience gives way to a cavernous, rolling beat reminiscent of early dubstep. Against echoing pad stabs, DRS's vocal hook rings out: "Cah your ting say you're badman / But you’ve never been bad in your lifetime." The MC's second contribution to Feeling Normal arrives with "Say Enough" an intriguing reconfiguration of 2-step and dancehall influences.
"Time To Breathe" underlines Martin's emotive and lyrical capacities as a producer, an expansive, reverberant interlude. In her haunting vocal performance, Cimone belts: "And then you catch my eye / And the sparks, they fly / There's nothing I can do." Immersive and powerful, the track harbours a heavy nostalgia for the hot, frenetic club nights that now finally seem in sight, rather than just a distant memory.
Feeling Normal treads a few divergent yet intrinsically connected paths. But Calibre's style remains consistent, structured around enthralling vocal performances, vigorous bass and heavily textured percussion. 16 albums and 20 years into an impressive career, Martin is as independent, creatively untethered and sonically varied as ever.
Tracklist01. Barren
02. Change With Me
03. Time To Breathe feat. Cimone
04. Has To Happen
05. Feeling Normal
06. Badman feat. DRS
07. Good Times
08. Say Enough feat. DRS
09. Miami
10. Predictable
11. Man Got Sandwich
12. Wrong
13. Regular Bull