EDM Twitter Goes Wild as Subtronics’ Debut Album ‘FRACTALS’ Hits Trending After Release

Subtronics showcases smaller pieces of a greater whole in breakout album. 

Subtronics (aka Jesse Kardon) displayed his strengths through multiple different methods on his debut album – FRACTALS. Released to music streaming services on January 14^th, this kickout release provided listeners with numerous examples of why Subtronics not only continues to be at the top of his game, but also remains collaborating with diverse and heavy hitting artists in the EDM industry.

His possession of raw talent, flexibility, and experimentalism in EDM persisted throughout FRACTALS and he remains to be an artist to follow in the next upcoming years. Hell, FRACTALS was even trending at #1 on Twitter on January 14th.

Within the last year, Subtronics put out the tracks “House Party” with Marshmello, “Bunker Buster” with Excision, and “Gravity (feat. JT Roach).” He additionally released the singles for the new album, “Spacetime (feat. Nevve),” “Griztronics II (Another Level) with GRiZ, and “Take Flight” with Sullivan King. Moreover, his latest track “Gassed Up (feat. Flowdan)” with Zeds Dead came out on January 6^th of this year to great reviews and was added to the track-list of FRACTALS as well.

Moving forward, Subtronics began THE FRACTAL TOUR on January 14^th in Seattle, WA at the Wamu Theater. This massive, 40+ dated tour was clearly long awaited and had fans eager to attend due to how quickly the first two tour dates sold out.

Out via Cyclops Recordings; this 16 tracked album began with “O.P.U.S,” which according to Subtronics’ Twitter stood for, “Omni-Potent Universal Schism.” 

This song incorporated an absolutely mesmerizing opening which gave way to a lot of angelic sounding strings fused inside an alien-like atmosphere. Due to the elements of this song’s beat, it led perfectly into “Spacetime (feat. Nevve)” and related to the track “Into Pieces (feat. Grabbitz).” During “Spacetime” Nevve’s soft vocal tone and melody left the listener in a tranquil state. However, after hearing the sample, “What’s this?” around the one minute and 30 second mark, the listener was instantly transported to a different world.    

Track three “Cabin Fever” was really interesting to hear because through it’s vapid and quick movements, the song conveys imagery of being in a slasher horror movie. It’s slow build up, matching with its quick and high notes, sounded as if the serial killer was going after their victims. The song’s title could also be seen as a reference to the 2002 horror movie directed by Eli Roth.

Moving through other songs on the album like “Open Your Mind (feat. Anthology 999)” with Christina Soto, “Gassed Up (feat. Flowdan)” with Zeds Dead, and “Flute Dub;” Subtronics demonstrated his ability to mix things up and follow his own rules. The listener heard how uncomplicated “Open Your Mind (feat. Anthology 999)” was in comparison to “Gassed Up (feat. Flowdan),” however both of those songs seemed tame when compared to the far-out “Flute Dub.”

“Flute Dub” related to track 12, “FUNcKED,” and track 14 “Tuba Demon” due to their corresponding experimental concepts. In these tracks, Subtronics flexed his creative ability to build songs that incorporated both a heavy portion of flute and funk.

The only low point to this album were through tracks seven “Gummy Worm (feat. Boogie T),” eight “Cyclops Rocks,” and nine “Take Flight VIP” with Sullivan King. Not only did these songs feel out of place for Subtronics, but they also felt half thought out. For example – each of the artists featured on this album like Nevve, Flowdan, or Grabbitz appears throughout each of their own respected song. However the runtime for “Gummy Worm” was four minutes and three seconds long, and Boogie T only appeared towards the end for about 13 seconds. He inadequately rapped, “I’m with you smokin’ on, and no need to be concerned, and I’m over rollin’ drugs I got 1,000 I’mma burn. And I hate a whirlwind, it’ll make your tummy turn. I’m feelin’ sugar high off that gummy worm.”

Thankfully after this lull, Subtronics ramped up the tone and vibe of the album with the quick little song “Morning Coffee (feat. Sony).” This track’s theme of caffeine intake definitely played off the title, and the slight lull in the tempo around the one minute and 20 second mark seemed to mark a decline in that caffeine buzz. As the song progressed, it’s rhythm and beat began to grind to a halt as if to say that more coffee was required to progress.   

Subtronics closed out the album with the tracks; “Into Pieces (feat. Grabbitz),” “FUNcKED,” “Griztronics II (Another Level)” with GRiZ, “Tuba Demon,” “Hieroglyph,” and “MetaFractal.” In spite of “Into Pieces’” outstanding rainy-day atmosphere, “MetaFractal” left the biggest impact on listeners. Who could forget that subtle laughter towards the end of the track that seemed to hint at something new on the horizon?   

Finally, understanding Subtronics’ movement through themes of funk, horror, pop, and r&b music – led the listener to understand why he decided to title his album as such. FRACTALS represented small pieces of a greater whole; with each song serving as a piece of what makes Subtronics exclusive and extraordinary.