It’s only fitting that Deadmau5 While (1>2) is an album that will surely split the dance community

Deadmau5 – While(1<2) [Album Review]

ropDeadmau5 has always been something of a polarising entity in the world of electronic music. Taking on the role of the local town-crier spreading his propagandist warnings of an impending EDM apocalypse, the misunderstood recluse huddled up in a faraway Toronto studio and the trollish court jester striking fear into the heart of any DJ opening up their Twitter mentions. Whether you’re a seasoned techno diehard scratching your head at Deadmau5’s SXSW set with Richie Hawtin or an EDM newbie who can’t fathom how his music even compares to Avicii, either way, you’re still only viewing one facet of a perplexing individual. So it’s only fitting that While (1>2) is an album that will surely split the dance community, much like his personality, into two camps, one asking “where’s the drop?” and one labelling it a modern masterpiece. Only one problem though, neither are exactly right.
Clocking in at 25 tracks, While (1>2) is a marathon of a listen. Not only in length but in the sheer denseness of the eerie and often lonely soundscapes Deadmau5 creates here. Oftentimes I found myself having to pause to breathe, letting out a sigh of relief for the break in the two discs. Structurally it’s been set out in a way Deadmau5 has mentioned makes the most sense in the context of a DJ set. Thematically it’s his most coherent and consistent album to date, with While (1>2) being code for an endless loop, some songs appear again, nestled within other tracks, referencing earlier moments in the record and almost creating a feeling of déjà vu.

Being a Deadmau5 die hard, this record didn’t feel entirely new. For something as atmospherically consistent as this you’d be surprised a good few of these tracks are reworkings and completions of tracks Deadmau5 had started years ago. Bleed, Creep, A Moment To Myself and the Lovecraftian prequel to Cthulhu Sleeps, Rylehs Lament, hung in collective limbo on Deadmau5’s now defunct Soundcloud page for years. Though there are some new moments to revel in, such as the stripped down piano pieces, referencing the seven deadly sins, which act as effective interludes spread throughout the record. The more upbeat moments come in the form of Phantoms Can’t Hang, Infra Turbo Pig Cart Racer and My Pet Coelacanth and should feel familiar, straddling that unique and typically Deadmau5 line between minimal techno’s rhythm, the progressive house structure, the enchanting, trancey comedowns and just a pinch of quirkiness.

Definite surprises are the downright funk of Seeya with ultra smooth vocals from Colleen D’Agostino and the remixes of Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails and sister project How To Destroy Angels, the glitchy latter working better in the context of the album’s overall sound.

And what would a Deadmau5 album be without an infectiously warm and uplifting progressive house track? Pets comes as a welcome reincarnation of There Might Be Coffee, Brazil and Jaded that covered similar terrain before.

There’s something to take away here for any Deadmau5 fan, if anything, experiencing first disc closer and highlight, Gula, is entirely worth the trip. The album is best experienced as two separate suites, rather than engaging the entirety of the material in one listen. It’s expansive and ethereal yet somewhat familiar, blurring the lines between dance album and film score.

In the context of the state of dance music right now this doesn’t feel like an outright game changer nor would it be fair to expect it to be. This album isn’t going to turn the masses away from blockbuster-scale festivals with their mind numbing production and their mass marketed PLUR dogma. False prophets will flop around behind DJ booths and LED walls, demanding crowds to “put their fucking hands up!” ad nauseam and in the wake of all the ridiculous theatrics the world needs a straight-talking entity, an incorruptible recluse unperturbed by the fame and limelight to call it out for what it is. While is far from perfect but it’s perhaps the truest look into a producer who just really, really gives a shit.

And who best to say it but the man himself:
“This just in ‘I don’t respect the scene’... Who ever wanted to be in a scene? I’d rather just be my fucking self.”