Porcelain are a musical collective that has chosen to be anonymous as a response to modern society’s fascination with celebrity and exposure. In an oversaturated market where marketing, image, and social media are just as important to an artists’ reach as the quality of the actual music, Porcelain is choosing to make music about the soundwaves that are digested through the ears. They continue this mission with their second project release titled, “Part Two”.
The project begins with “Say it to Me Softly”, a delicate piece about confessing love. Musically, Porcelain right away creates its musical universe by establishing pretty piano/string tones with electronic bass, plucks, and pads. It’s the rhythm section and vocals that crystallize a personality of a dark, eerie world reminiscent of Massive Attack. There’s a very interesting juxtaposition of a tribal underbelly to the surface level calmness of this opening track.
“Hollow” introduces a male vocal now backed by a female vocalist. The anonymity of the collective renders each song not as just music, but also as new information revealed about their capabilities and musical prowess. The second tune in the project again has a beautiful string melody that floats etheraly like most of the produced sounds so far introduced on the project. The guitar is also a nice touch in painting the auditory timbre Porcelain is artistically arranging. A little over halfway, the string cathartically floats over light percussion that slowly fades in. There’s a hint of Bonobo, Emancipator, and Telefon Tel Aviv that is served in this mixed cocktail of Burial anonymity. Frankly, that’s a drink I’d have any day of the week. Lyrically the song touches on feeling hollow about the things lost through relationships. The time lost and how the abundance can turn into emptiness.
“Resting Place” right away introduces a new element of horns, over what is turning into their trademark ambient pad sound that is beautiful. The drums again add a mix of trip-hop, 2step, and electro while on this tune, the vocal lead executes a more of R&B delivery, sitting tastefully over the instrumental bed. I hate to keep making comparisons, but due to how authentic their sound is, “Resting Place” sounds like Thievery Corporation collaborating with Massive Attack. There are also cool guitar effects in the later verse, adding to the nice subtle sprinkles of musical coating Porcelain lays on their music. In the end, the drums pick up in their business, but you’re still floating in Porcelain’s otherworldly steady stream of sound.
“Hold Me in the Dark” is a hauntingly beautiful piece that again combines ambient atmospherics, gorgeous vocals, electronic production, and emotive dark strings. There’s a lot of Enya vibes on the closing track with the backup vocals. The string piece in the chorus is very empowering and confident in its existing nature. It is important to note that Porcelain also allows their songs to breathe and doesn’t conform to traditional song structures, which only accentuates the phantom imaginative experience they’ve created with these pieces.
If you’re into heady, beat driven music that is also gorgeous, dark, and dreamy – Porcelain’s “Part Two” is exactly what the doctor ordered. I can’t wait for more ‘parts’ and future releases from the anonymous collective.
Written by Jon Kagan
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