DJ_Dave Live-Codes Her Own Universe in Debut EP 'Intercell'
New York experimental pop, live code artist, and producer DJ_Dave has finally executed what she's been aiming for since she started to learn coding in 2021. She has shared her debut EP, Intercell, and it is everything fans could have wanted and more. The rapidly rising newcomer within the living coding and algorave scenes is among the first to realize an intersection between code-generated electronic music and pop, creating a five-track release filled with enchanting rhythms, intimate melodies, and kaleidoscopic textures.
"Inter" meaning within, and "cell" representing the live-code community, DJ_Dave sees Intercell as a look into her artistic process while still acknowledging how much more of the scene there is left to discover. "As my debut project, my concept for Intercell is to make an entirely self-produced and performed project that emphasizes live-coding as an essential part of the production," says Dave. "My goal is to show how live-coding can and should fit into world of music outside of technology-specific environments. I came up with the title Intercell as a way of explaining the way my project is part of something bigger than just this project, and bigger than myself."
The EP's opener, "Array," teleports you through a gleaming labyrinth of electronica. With a shuddering and rivetingly kinetic melody of bass and synth bursts, the track dazzles in ecstatic fury. Creating it through code offers a sublime intentionality that is particularly inspiring and exceptionally vivid. Coupled with her gauzy and crystalline vocals, "Array" morphs into a dizzyingly beaming dynamo of energy that is difficult to resist and even harder to shake once it's coded into your ear drum. This leads seamlessly into the enlightening "Bitrot," which has an ascending, almost out-of-body feeling laced within its production.
Focus track "Bloom" opens on a deeper, darker note with bass-driven beats and synths juxtaposing her iridescent vocals. In the lyrics, she leaves her ego behind and reinvents herself as trance-laden sonic elements come into the fold, launching into booming barrage kick drum-esque beats. The track is the equivalent of watching DJ_Dave fight against stagnation. As she comes into herself, the darker, pulsating sonics continue on the next track, "idc [live sketch]," where she tells someone from her past, "I don't care / Wish you well / Happy inside / Leave you behind." The dark turns to light as glitching, airy vocals, and beats take the lead, making the transformation from "Bloom" audibly cemented.
The EP's finale, "React," opens with a collection of twinkling synths and ethereal vocals. The dreamy soundscapes comprised of layers of kinetic, cyber percussion, and catchy beats lure the listener deeper and deeper into the code-based world of the rising producer and DJ. Lyrics focusing on a tumultuous relationship swirl in the air, ebbing and flowing through the multi-faceted sonics, inspiring listeners to dance out their feelings and cry over their own heartbreaks on the dancefloor.
Alongside the EP release, there are captivating visualizers for every track. DJ_Dave collaborated with visual code artists Andy Rolfes and Char Stiles to imagine an immersive digital universe for these songs, and the result is a series of captivating videos that artfully fuse physical and digital domains. DJ_Dave will host and perform at her NYC EP release party on September 15 at H0l0. Dubbed 'INTERFACE,' the event will be the first "algorave" of its kind where two independent systems will meet and interact. DJ_Dave will headline with a DJ and live code set, with additional DJ sets from Clip and ninajirachi, as well as live code sets from Lil Data, C Robo, and alsoknownasrox, with visuals by live code visual artists Char Stiles and Andy Rolfes.
Listen to Intercell below:
