Escamentia - Nautic

Escamentia is an independent producer and underground resident of the synthwave and chillsynth scene. While his name isn’t widespread, I have had the chance to check out his music in the past with the release of his 2021 album “Tokyo City Dream Survey”. While it wasn’t revolutionary and stuck to a couple of synthwave tropes, I found the entire package to be enjoyable. Once again, Escamentia is ready to take us on another retro journey with his brand-new EP “Nautic”. Rather than exploring a cyberpunk city of the future, Escamentia goes a little personal. He asks the question, “What if instead of saving memories through pictures, you saved them through music?” 

‘Ocean Drift’ begins off the EP and, as you would expect a song to bring out a memory, hazy synths launched me forward into deep and chill beats. The sound of rain, birds chirping, and the like helped me mellow out into this memory. It’s a very bright song that had me bobbing my head throughout it’s four-minute and two-second run. Even the backing synths and samples had me humming along and only add to that dreamy element. 

A drop of a coin, a DJ mix, and the local news from a Japanese station carry forth the intro of ‘Beach TV’. Synths that reminisce a saxophone slowly transfer over into the beat; a steady dissolve from the live samples straight into the music. Well done. While not as dream filled as the previous track, this one seeks to get your feet moving ever so slightly thanks to its danceable beat. ‘Prismarine’ doubles-up on that kick-drum and serves up alien like sound effects. I thought they were a bit too high-pitched for my personal tastes. Rather than giving me a homey, warm vibe that’s meant to come off, I felt off-put and as if something ominous were about to happen – a vibe that’s quite opposite to the intention of “Nautic”. The final song on the album is ‘Wuhu Island’ (which takes its name from the Wii where games such as ‘Wii Sports Resort’ took place). While I don’t remember being able to vibe this hard when playing Wii Sports Resort as a kid, I can say that “Nautic” ends on a high note. 

I will say that one complaint from “Tokyo City Dream Survey” carries over to “Nautic”, and that is the bass. There are those who like bass, and there are those who like BASS. Escamentia is a man who likes BASS. There’s nothing wrong with some BASS in your music, but when that BASS kicks the shit out of all the other sounds in your mix, there’s a bit of a problem. I felt it from start-to-finish on all four tracks, but it’s not a gamebreaker and doesn’t disqualify “Nautic” from being any good. It’s still a pretty well polished experience despite this fact.  

Escamentia has once again showcased his production skills. I would recommend at least hiring someone to mix his material for his next release; as I said, the bass can be monstrous and throws off the songs’ balance. Other than that, though, I think Escamentia has told the story he wanted to tell: that of chill memories being explored through music. Seven-and-a-half out of ten.