EP Review: LAYNE – The Black Hills

Piper M. August 16, 2016 212 Comments 760 views 0 likes

Every industry has its own latest shifts and trends as certain fads and styles rise to the top while others fall to the bottom. Part of it is consumer based; with the mindset of needing to have the latest and greatest, everything else tends to start to feel outdated. This leads to things that were once popular no longer riding the wave of momentum and fading away until the next big thing within that realm takes it back to the top. In music, the shift comes in regards to its genres. With the rise of artists such as Halsey and Grimes, there’s been a surge of alternative and dark pop acts. Enter relative newcomers LAYNE. While not entirely new to the sound, their fandom has been rising rapidly as of late and their upcoming release, The Black Hills, will assuredly solidify that.

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Genre: Alternative | Dark Pop
Release: August 26, 2016
Label: Independent
Purchase: N/A
Connect: Facebook | Twitter
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While it’s hard to find a solid point of reference, The Black Hills is not the duo’s debut to the musical world, but appears to be their first collection of songs released together. For a relatively new act, there’s a ridiculously high standard set via their attitude and composure, giving off vibes of a group that has a fair amount of experience and time spent together. This helps LAYNE take their sound to a realm beyond the modern day, average alternative act as each song the listener is presented with is not only captivating, but interesting to listen to. Crafting a unique style within the genre, there are elements of new age electronics and R&B blended seamlessly with beautiful instrumentation. Some of the most notable musical elements found on the EP are the strong, funky guitar riffs in the more upbeat tracks, incredible production in the darker tracks, and smooth, airy vocals from Layne throughout. Coupled with an often simple, but wildly effective drum orchestration, there’s a very complete and intricately crafted sound to be found.

LAYNE – Somebody (Official Video)

Our new single “Good” is available here: http://www.smarturl.it/LAYNE_Good * Purchase “Somebody” on: iTunes here: http://www.smarturl.it/laynesomebody Google Play here: http://smarturl.it/laynesomebodygp Amazon MP3: http://amzn.com/B00XIRWDPM Bandcamp: http://laynesworld.bandcamp.com/track… — https://www.facebook.com/Laynesworldm…

Where as other musicians that craft music within the realm of alternative pop tend to lean on the lighter side in sound, LAYNE lives in the darker world and create music in what they refer to as “the in-between”. Utilizing this idea, their sound is crafted with not only music in mind, but the aesthetic as well. This had led to these two artists (I cannot stress the word artists enough) having created a beautiful blend of dark electronics and pop that has the ability to bring a mood up or down with ease. They have come a long way since the first song they released and it would be wise to keep a close eye on the duo in the future as they continue to grow.