The Present - Lifetone | PREMIERE

Stoked to receive the exclusive premiere of the newest track from some of NYC's finest electro-ambient practitioners The Present. "Lifetone" is one of the smoothest slow jams to unravel before my (& possibly your) ears in some time. To give you an idea of what I mean when I first listened to the tune at my office a coworker promptly stated that this was "like some serious spa type stuff". It's easy to understand such a reaction as one is able to easily get lost in layers of budding synth textures, autotuned vocals, & of course an ever present yet subtle beat that propels everything along. Yet this is not some throw away office new age music.

It's easy to see the duo of Rusty Santos & Mina Ohashi fitting snuggly in with their musical friends & peers such as Gang Gang Dance or Animal Collective (who Rusty has done production & engineering work for). What the two set out to accomplish with The Present treads similar waters as the aforementioned artists. The Present have their eyes & ears on the dance floor though perhaps they tend to hang in the chill out room rather than going for the all out dance assault.

The recent stream of "Where I'd Rather Be" steps the tempo up a bit further pushing their compositional ideas towards getting the body moving. Opening with a rolling synth line that sets the stage for what's to come as Mina's vocals further take center stage, even as they are continuously cut & rearranged throughout. It is these off-kilter elements that keep The Present off the beaten path & that leave the listener on their toes waiting to catch their breadth.
You can find more tunes on The Present's soundcloud page as they gear up for an upcoming EP.