DEBUT SINGLE RELEASE FROM HOTEL DEATH STAR – YOU’RE NOT JESUS
NZ singer-songwriter Phil Stoodley and Indonesian composer-producer Andreas Arianto have released their first collaboration under the moniker, Hotel Death Star, with a track called ‘You’re Not Jesus’. The track first gained shape in the cold mountains of snow covered Japan over a year ago. Caught in a storm, Stoodley tapped out the original beats in a cold hotel room that invited the weather inside, more than protecting him from it.
“Well, what happened next,” we asked Phil?
“After surviving the storm, I made it back to my home-base of Bali,” says Phil. “I teamed up with Andreas and together we shaped the sounds into the rhythmic pulse of deep-house while keeping the grit of its birthplace firmly etched in the grinding beats and repetitive sounds.”
Their first single, ‘You’re Not Jesus’ found its title and vocal loop while Phil was kayaking with friends one early morning on the North Bali sea. As one friend swam off into the deeper waters, another was caught on video screaming a warning “You’re not Jesus!” The audio take was then used in Hotel Death Star’s first release, looped as a sample within the track.
The track has a banging, poppy EDM feel to it, and definitely grinds along with a certain grit. I am sure it could find life, or sampled, in a commercial club somewhere with a few tweaks. Being their first release out the door, I imagine the road has just begun for Hotel Death Star and they will hone their electronic skills more as time goes on. This track probably highlights the differences of rock/pop music composition, EDM (commercial electronic) and house orientated electronica than anything, where perhaps the union of sounds and timing in house is of more importance in that genre than a particular melody or chorus like pop music and EDM. You could say (once again) electronica is more about the journey than the punch line of EDM and pop.
However, in a classic, pop song format for the masses this track ‘You’re Not Jesus’ could possibly be a great hit. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Give the track a spin right now for yourself and let us know what you think in the comments section….click the link below. SDW.
https://soundcloud.com/hoteldeathstar/youre-not-jesus
