On Forever, Bassvictim isn’t scared to be messy and collides bit-crushed synths with layered vocals, strings, and piano.
The members of the electronic duo, known as Bassvictim, are Maria Manow, the vocalist and songwriter, and Ike Clateman, the producer and instrumentalist. My first impression of them was after hearing their track “L-ON-D-ON,” which sparked my interest in listening to more of their songs. Bassvictim’s authenticity and desire to experiment with sounds outside of the standards of the music industry contributed to my love for them.
The two artists met in 2022 and started making music together just a couple of months later. Forever also features co-producer Mathias Humlen, who makes solo music under the name FAKETHIAS. Their projects, including their newest releases Basspunk and Basspunk 2, feature a mix of fun, wild, and effortlessly crafted songs. Their latest album, Forever, is a more nuanced and experimental evolution from their previous works. Their music can be characterized by their self-coined “basspunk” sound, which includes maximalist, chaotic, and bass-heavy electronic sounds.
The album opens with the track “It’s me Maria,” which consists of repeated vocal snippets from Maria’s beautiful Polish accent, trap drops, and a glitchy electronic melody. The combination of all these electronic instruments creates a textured, dancy, and chaotic atmosphere. The album then moves to my favorite track off the album, “Dog Tag Freestyle,” which stands out to me the most because it sounds like Maria is having an incomprehensible argument, mixed with distorted synthesizer and thick sounds. In contrast, the sixth track on the album, and one of my other favorites, “Grass is Greener”, includes a childlike, bright, and upbeat tone. Just hearing it, I can imagine Maria yelling and jumping while her hair is flying everywhere. She mentioned on an Instagram story recently that it was the most difficult song to create on the album. One of the final tracks on the album is an elegant and beautiful key-based track, “Ike Piano,” which stands out greatly in a discography full of distorted synths and hyperpop.
Forever deepened my love for Bassvictim and appealed to me much more than I expected. This album brings out the creative minds of Ike and Maria and demonstrates how they aren’t afraid to produce carefree and unique projects. So many tracks off this album are already in my Fall playlist, and I’m so excited to see what future projects are to come from Bassvictim.
