Isaac Neilson has released his new single ‘Dead Set Dance’.
Speaking of the single, Isaac said: “The process of developing this track has been a real journey for me in my growth as a writer and performer. It’s the first time that the idea in my head is close to what’s been put down on tape, and I actually like how I sound on it. Which hasn’t happened before… I feel like it’s genuinely a strong song, it’s got good musicality, has an interesting concept, and isn’t derivative. I feel like I’m starting to find a ‘voice’ with this one.”
To celebrate his single release, Isaac shared with us 5 tracks that influenced ‘Dead Set Dance’.
Arctic Monkeys – A Certain Romance | Listen via Spotify
An aspect of the early Arctic Monkeys that really distinguished their sound for me, was Alex Turner’s ability to succinctly capture the zeitgeist in short passages of lyrical observations. ‘A Certain Romance’ remarks on the culture of 2005 England with a sentimental sensitivity to the rough local mindset; capturing the mood and feelings of an entire generation with a multitude of understated experiences pulled out into a critical love letter. The duality of love and contempt for the culture Turner exists within is a sentiment I deeply relate to in my own experience, and have been eager to explore throughout my own works. Critiquing the habits and tendencies in cultures of excess has arisen as a theme within ‘Dead Set Dance’, and while there is a touch of ‘A Certain Romance’ in the lyrical structure of the track, my explorations offer a conversational romanticisation which is perhaps more clouded and conflicted in its sentiment than the detached observations of Arctic Monkeys track.
Talking Heads – Psycho Killer | Listen via Spotify
The almost motionless pulsing bass line of Tina Weymouth exudes the foundation of the unhinged and manic atmosphere which drives ‘Psycho Killer’. The emotional quality of this bass line has excited me for years with its elegant simplicity, subtly persuading the sentiment of the vocal performance that it drives. I feel similarly that the bass riff I laid down on ‘Dead Set Dance’ is the fundamental hook that directs the vocal inflections of the track, holding a swaggering confidence despite its uneven footing as the line descends into repetition.
Eminem – Without Me | Listen via Spotify
With the buttery base dictating the swagger, I found my natural vocal played into musings that were dictated more by rhythmic inflection than overt musical tonality. Although a certain romantic element seeped into the lyrical reflections, a harder rhythmic sarcasm was drawn from my appreciation of hip-hop. Namely, Eminem’s ‘Without Me’ is a masterclass in this regard, with subtle tonal inflections punctuating the absurdity of the derailing train of thoughts he stitched together for the track. As I’ve gigged this track (‘Without Me’) quite a lot, I’ve been drawn to serve the cadence of the track – of course with my own English flair imbued. Although a mostly unconscious flavouring through practice, the energy of this banger has certainly made its way into ‘Dead Set Dance’.
Queens Of The Stone Age – Make It Wit Chu | Listen via Spotify
I can’t quite put my finger on what it is I’ve drawn from this track, but ‘Make It Wit Chu’ felt present to me in the making of this track, though also diminishing in its impact with time as the song developed. Before the lyrical direction of this track was determined, this QOSTA tune felt relevant to the instrumental somehow in a deserty kinda way. With a distant eerieness embedded amongst the upbeat forefront elements, I drew a sense of a conflicted confidence from the groove of ‘Make It Wit Chu’. Although it no longer seems present in the finished article, ‘Make It Wit Chu’s fingerprints lay hidden somewhere within the foundations of this track.
Alice In Chains – Rooster | Listen via Spotify
‘Rooster’ to me is the greatest song by Alice In Chains. Every choice in both the instrumental parts and sonics serves as a motif for the lyrical theme with immaculate synergy. The verse guitars paint an anxious patrol in the sweltering heat of the jungle, the drums embodying ground-shaking artillery, and the thundering chorus guitar chords laying the inferno of napalm upon the battlefield before a guitar solo depicts the death which surely follows. Something in the symbolism of Rooster’s production made its mark on the chorus of ‘Dead Set Dance’, illustrating how vividly instrumentation can convey events that a lyrical theme only suggests. This is an idea that’s abundant in classical music, however, Rooster’s vivid presentation of this concept in tandem with the vocal performance really captured my imagination to a level that few songs do. Though the themes could not be more opposed, a subtle impression on the vocal and instrumental mood from AIC inspired my chorus performance depicting a culture engrossed with excess, which I find kind of bizarre given how much of their other works query this subject and yet did not connect with this track in my mind.
Listen to Isaac Newton ‘Dead Set Dance’ via Spotify below: