From the realm of the more ambient side of electronic music is the producer Gentoo from Dallas, Texas. Champion by Damon Kelly, Gentoo’s music seeks out minimalism and simplicity in a music scene that’s more associated with drops of sensory overloads for the massive. With a brief overview of Gentoo’s discography, one would find the more digestible sounds similar to Tycho, Boards of Canada, and Helios. His latest album, Structures, due to be released on January 20, 2017 incorporates sounds of tranquil synths and live drums that are accompanied by sonic soundscapes and basslines. One good listen through the album and you could think of all things peaceful: meditation, yoga, or perhaps an event even more transcendent, Burning Man.

‘Oslo’ is the first single debuted from ‘Structures’, a downtempo song with a hip-hop kick showcasing Gentoo’s love for live drums in his productions that will be heard throughout the entire album. Light, acidic synths sprinkle themselves throughout ‘Oslo’ giving the song a swing feel for an overall deep ambient tune as it echoes into silence. ‘Strings’, ‘Structures’, and ‘Starling’ are also the other trip-hop like tune that add to the ambient ambiance that is ‘Structures’.

Feeling a more groove that you can lounge around to? ‘Sum Zero’ is the tune you’d want to play out during a raining day or when you need that breath of air away from the day-to-day, hustle and bustle. The track picks up a steadier beat, but is still beaten down by a melancholy synthesizer for a more solemn mood. ‘For Katherine Gompert’ is Gentoo’s most serious take on intelligent dance music as it taps into a deeper soundscape and meaning in the most superficial sense. ChordsĀ of emphatic string instruments guide their way through the deepest of emotions as quirky bells create a broken rhythm that fits quite nicely with the song as whole.

‘Structures’ is set to be released on January 20, 2017.

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