Article by: Sam Wolloch
Event Horizon, the first solo EP from the Vancouver-based producer D.Mo, is a well-conceived musical exploration into the unknown adventure that is outer space. With nearly a decade of DJ and production experience, D.Mo leveraged his skills and knowledge of electronic dance music on his new EP, earning it a spot as high as 13 on Beatport’s Minimal / Deep Tech Top 100 chart.
The concept behind the creation of the Event Horizon soundscape is quite interesting. Because D.Mo conceived and produced the entire EP while in isolation, he wanted the music to serve as an escape and exploration of outer space. In fact, the 4-track album takes listeners on a journey to an otherworldly dance party, with each song developing its own element of deep space findings. From start to finish, D.Mo thoughtfully utilizes complex sound design to share an adventure of “blasting off to an unfamiliar galaxy, meeting some unwelcoming aliens, and heading through the event horizon of a black hole to the unknown on the other side.”
The first song, “Day by Day,” starts with a catchy kick ahead of the commencing countdown for the excursion into space. D.Mo’s distorted bassline and vocal sample work together, creating a feeling of deep space exploration akin to a shuttle buzzing by beams of light. Especially during a time of lockdown and isolation, the sense of escaping to another world is a meaningful distraction.
“Landing Zone” begins with subtle syncopation and a mysterious melody before the cautionary message “but still the rockets came.” After taking off in the first track, it follows that the next step in the journey would be landing the ship. Eventually the mysterious melody makes way to a more welcoming beat, as if the exploration party had calmed its nerves and began sharing its music as an act of peace, love, unity and respect to any otherworldly beings.
The third track, “Contact,” starts with a rushed and panicked tone, ahead of the vocal warning of being located by another ship of an alien race. The pulsating beat and the sampled human shrieks create a sense of dread, like one is being chased and under threat. The futuristic feel of this track in particular makes it seem like one is deftly dodging the danger of electronic laser beams buzzing all around.
The final song and title track of the EP, “Event Horizon,” begins with a searching and sprawling back beat, foreshadowing that we are “dealing with forces beyond our control.” About 90 seconds in though, something happens, and the Event Horizon comes into view. As the erratic and eclectic sounds continue to build in intensity, they eventually break, and give way to a deep and funky bassline, which epitomizes the deep space escape D.Mo created with this EP.
For listeners who want to delve deeper into the outer space soundscape that D.Mo designed, he also released an accompanying Event Horizon Mini Mix which provides a progression to the EP’s backstory, as well as some of the songs that helped inspire it. Additionally, D.Mo has more unreleased music planned to release in the months to come, so give him a follow on Instagram to best keep up with all the latest news and notes about this experienced tech house producer.
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