The Masks finally bubble up to the surface on "Save Me"

07 July 2015, 11:25 | Written by Michael McAndrew

(Tracks)

(The Masks)

The Masks have been operating at the peripheries of Soundcloud for just over a year now, churning out sultry electronic jams about love and loss every handful of months that fail to fit neatly into a particular genre. Skittering hip-hop beats, detuned vocals and pulsing synths often serve as the steely backdrop for overwhelmingly warm human voices and themes. It's a sound conceived on the London underground and is finally bubbling up from the pavement on their latest offering "Save Me".

It all begins simply enough, with powerful, resounding piano chords and crystalline vocals from an anonymous siren. But the synths that join 20 seconds in signal a shift; they push the boundaries of the organic template laid before them outwards before being muted and quickly dying out. The machine-like beat soon joins and pounds away for the remainder of the song - the vocals becoming so precise they sound robotic. To bolster the effect, detuned harmonies join in the song's latter half.

It's as though the duo are fitting an icy exoskeleton around their unnamed star beat by beat; is she playing a part in the construction as a means of saving herself or is she pleading for the listeners to save her from this mechanical metamorphosis? It's unclear, but the blend of the organic and electronic that's quickly becoming The Masks' signature is dizzying and delightful.

Hear more from The Masks on their Soundcloud. You can also catch up with them on their Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.