No_4mat

I discovered No4mat in the fall of 2024 after coming across his In The After Hours single. I was struck by the simplicity and yet the efficiency of the production. The sound was crisp, the pacing was perfect, and goddamn it was atmospheric. In The After Hours transports you to a nighttime city scape, dark and rainy and mysterious as you traverse it as if in some sort of video game. Listening to it, you can effortlessly imagine the world No_4mat designed it for. And that is talent. 

The electronic artist (shrowded in a bit of mystery) has put out a range of material since. Some tracks are more memorable than others - but it works. No_4mat produces a range of sound: some spacier, ambient study tracks and other trippy, catchy tracks you could even mix into a high-energy set. His sound can feel both nostalgic and futuristic - depending on how they resonate with you. On the one hand, his melodies are dreamlike and feel like the soundtrack to an old, creepy video game, pulling inspiration from vaporwave and early internet aesthetics (especially with his incorporation of siren sounds). On the other hand, the synths can feel alien-like, with occasional hyperpop influences - leading us to feel like spiraling in the digital void of some forgotten future.

His gentle beats, embedded into lush synth, build slowly onto eachother. He often fades in beats - a tool not many artists use quite as frequently - which is one of the critical ways he makes the tracks feel so smooth. There are rarely hard transitions. Beat drops are used sparingly (but well). Occasionally, a layer of sound might be extracted, leaving just a soft drum or bassline. Nothing is too strong, too harsh. No_4mat could be your nap soundtrack just as easily as he could be the vibe for your next DJ set, late night drive, daydream, or study sesh.