Two of Ireland’s brightest artists collide bringing us a mesmerising R&B record immersed in indie-pop influences. Matt Ó & AikJ have just dropped their brand-new single, a collaboration called “Asphantasia”.
The single touches on the topic of fear of lost memories as the complex title suggest, taking us through an emotional rollercoaster served harmoniously courtesy of honey glazed vocals from both singer/songwriters.
The pair melodically plays on the metaphor of photography resembling it to capturing moments in time with someone they worry about losing. As they both request to “keep a picture in the back of my mind, so I can save it for life”, gripping the emotion of the listener every step of the way.
Speaking about how the track came together, the pair explained: “we wanted to use live instruments and plenty of panning to really immerse the listener in the track and draw as much emotion from the instrumental as possible.
Wanted each part of the song to have its own identity rather than being a looped verse and chorus, each verse is personalised musically which would also make the listener inclined to find out what’s next.”
This exciting cross-genre collaboration between Matt Ó and AikJ arrives on the end of two introspective releases, with AikJ sharing “Replacement”, his first release under Dummy magazines record label DMY. And a rarely unaccompanied Matt Ó hot on the heels a successful release of his Brackets EP as part of Hip Hop duo Tebi Rex.
This gentle & melancholic approach from leaders in their respective genres in the Irish scene AikJ and Matt leaves us thirsty for another collaboration between the two musicians.
Go listen to “Aphantasia”:
#Peace.Love.Aphantasia
