Influences
BT, “Orbitus Teranium” (It’s set at the same BPM, and the song started from me playing around with his program Stutter Edit 2, which had come out a few days before)
Orbital, “Know Where to Run” (that bass line…mmm)
’90s house generally. Given the timing of this song, I might have been influenced by Jayda G’s excellent cut “Both of Us” from 2020, but I’d generally had it in my mind that I wanted to do something that brought back house piano rhythms; she happened to want the same thing and got to it first.
Story
The title is based on the Fairlight CMI water-through-a-drain sound in this song, as well as its meaning either something very light or heavy. Do I mean misty fog around a drain? Do I mean F.O.G. (fats, oils, and grease) in a drain, getting unclogged by a saponifying drain cleaner? Or do I mean that saponification made the F.O.G. worse by creating a clog? You can’t tell whether each word is making things better or worse, lighter or heavier. And that’s the relationship of the huge bass line to the chords in this song.
The opening is a dry DX7 electric piano fading in atop its stuttered self. A lot of the lengths of later things are based on where my pasting loops ended those parts. It was also fun to use the classic Korg M1 16’ Piano sound but with weird chords; it was mostly there for rhythm in the early ‘90s, so it’s that here too but more complicated.
When I create that gap in the beat in the first half, I fill it in the second half by stretching all the prior drums into that space. But nobody’s really picked up on that. What they’ve picked up on instead is the harp glissando (which then reverses on itself) coming out of nowhere. That part’s been a fan favorite.
Some press about it
“A track that builds…with a rising piano that combines with swirling synths into something that has a dark atmosphere that feels bold and cinematic. If you didn’t know any better, you wouldn’t be mistake[n] in thinking that this came from the UK.” – Will Oliver, We All Want Someone to Shout For (I loved that UK bit when I first read it)
“There’s a pervading old school house feel with some comparison to be made with [Laurent] Garnier when it all comes together in explosive union.” – Barra Ó Súilleabháin, HeadStuff (Getting compared to Laurent Garnier even a little bit is glorious)
Next song: There’s Much Left to Explore
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