Message from the Artist
I’m Mark from 32after, a Berlin based duo creating what we call CINEMATIC DRAMATIC POP — a fusion of orchestral-film-music textures with contemporary pop songwriting.
We’ve just released our new single “IN”, a song about self-love, introspection, and intimacy. It’s built around lush electronic textures, pulsing rhythms, and an evocative vocal performance that sits somewhere between Woodkid, Raye, and 2WEI.
ABOUT 32after:
Born from a creative and romantic connection in Berlin, 32after began as a couple’s shared vision to craft music that feels cinematic. Our songs explore relationships, desire, and identity through a visual and sonic lens — mixing orchestral emotion, pop melody and minimal design. We write, produce, film, design, and brand almost everything ourselves — from the music and videos to our own custom font..!
IN
Music Review
By Dee, Unsigned Reviews
Bring a towel.
IN, by 32after, is a song saturated with musical ability and well considered presentation. My focus is songwriting so that’s what I will review here. This easy to digest theatre of song drips pop buttercups onto the sonic stage, merging harmonies through lyrics that evince the things we would like to say more often; and, in contrast, with studied musical dynamics, illustrating the feelings we would like to put behind us.
IN is a rich mix of instruments and vocal treatments drifting in the same ocean with Massive Attack or an eighties FM radio equivalent, late at night but still wide awake. Also reminds me of X and Metric with a bit of Tricky mixed in. The orchestral verses and more aggressive choruses make it easy to stay with the story and the more low key melody invites the percussion and bass line to form a strong backbone, which you can actually hear. I found myself lost in the lyric at first; then in the music; and back and forth, a sign of some significant degree of acceptance on my part. I was hooked. By the time the pre-chorus arrived I was ready to figure this song out and put it on repeat.
IN’s production is layered on many levels or, in this case, latitudes as its overall all sound, to me, is very spherical in shape. The pop qualities of the keyboard are on one latitude, the vocal on another, each of the other instruments taking part as required, not too much, forming a kind of magnetosphere of pulse energy that locks the listener IN. The strong melody line, doubled somewhat on the bass, reverberates through the percussive(timpani?)-heavy chorus intro. It’s a cool effect. I took a breath to consider if it was too much. The separation between each of the movements in the piece, their volumes and the presence they share lands like a watery melon, juicy and ripe in your ear.
Pop buttercups? Perhaps that was just a journalistic flourish or maybe it’s the whole story with this tune. The lyric is seductive, especially for people who understand the pleasures of being alone. The presentation is titillating without naming names or getting an anatomy lesson. “Touch” is definitely a trigger word. It immediately pops up the Five Ws and the need for a warm towel. Sophisticated, tight lyrics are evidence of clarity. Without too much compression the words make linear sense while still tailored to fit the music as much as the other way around. A true skill.
This song has had some serious time put in to blend and separate the sound values, colours and shades of harmony between parts. EQ Lords worked here. This gives the whole production a slick velvet tone from start to finish. Very well composed and produced music. Easy to listen to and to move to. Could be, should be, in the clubs or at least in your bedroom. Tell a friend.
Something I read: to make songs work you have to have repetition. I would add, you need to have something worthy of repeating. IN by 32after overcomes this requisite with on-the-mark delivery, sharp engineering and a provocative lyric that is delivered with determined passion. Variety, ideas and studio mechanics have IN primed for a wide listener-ship and 32after reeks of oncoming longevity.
IN, the song, is well rounded, like a sphere. Its latitudes of resonance are saturated with the writer’s understanding of their subject matter; then, fast frozen to be consumed at will. This music is tight, but with open arms and approachable ‘licks’.
I can relate.
Musical style: orchestral-film-music textures with contemporary pop songwriting
Source: Website form.
Website: https://www.32after.com
Song Writer: Mark
City: Berlin, Germany
Song link: https://open.spotify.com/album/7hcueAUWdqABxw8FBtA6nv?si=iHapnv3NQE-etBi40iJPuw
