Northern Lights, the debut full-length from Toronto duo Zeds Dead, is a moody journey through atmospherics.
Bucking the attention-deficit EDM trend, Northern Lights is a true album experience, with enough peaks and valleys to justify a start-to-finish listen.
The pair -- Dylan Mamid and Zachary Rapp-Rovan -- peppers some big moments throughout the softly textured haze, effectively utilizing each of the many guest musicians.
The rap tracks are the true standouts.
Fans of their work with Omar LinX will relish appearances by Styles P and Jadakiss on the aggressively menacing "DNA," Pusha T's jaunty duet with Weezer's Rivers Cuomo on "Too Young," and British rapper Ghetts' full assault of grime-and-bass on "Already Done." Elsewhere, standard festival EDM bangers make their required appearances in the form of collaborations with Diplo and Elliphant ("Blame") and NGHTMRE and GG Magree ("Frontlines").
They're fun, but nothing that hasn't been heard before.
Also of note is the crushing drum'n'bass moment -- one of the three tracks credited solely to Zeds Dead -- "Me No Care," which is the sound of the Prodigy bursting through Roni Size.
Beneath the booming bass, hypnotic moments like "Lights Out," "This Is Me," "Where Did That Go," and beautifully soulful offerings from Twin Shadow ("Stardust" and "Loneliness") transform Northern Lights into a more nourishing and rewarding listen.
Once the propulsive body-movers subside, it's these hazy highlights that warrant further exploration.
Buoyed by the strength of the guest artists and those explorative tangents, Northern Lights manages to be an enjoyable, well-intentioned debut album with a handful of worthwhile ideas.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | StardustGeorge Lewis Jr., Dylan Mamid, Zachary Rapp-Rovan | Zeds Dead | Play | 04:18 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 2 | BlameAlexander Castillo, Lukasz Gottwald, Dylan Mamid, Ellinor Olovsdotter, Thomas Wesley Pentz, Zachary Rapp-Rovan, Tommy Tysper | Zeds Dead, Diplo | Play | 03:38 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 3 | Lights OutAtlas, Dylan Mamid, Zachary Rapp-Rovan | Zeds Dead | Play | 03:50 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 4 | Too YoungRivers Cuomo, Dylan Mamid, Zachary Rapp-Rovan, Pusha T, Terrence Thorton | Zeds Dead | Play | 03:00 | 6 MB | 20 MB |
| 5 | DNAJadakiss, Dylan Mamid, Styles P, Jason Phillips, Zachary Rapp-Rovan, David Styles | Zeds Dead | Play | 03:45 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 6 | Me No CareDylan Mamid, Zachary Rapp-Rovan | Zeds Dead | Play | 03:12 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 7 | LonelinessGeorge Lewis Jr., Dylan Mamid, Zachary Rapp-Rovan, Twin Shadow | Zeds Dead | Play | 04:44 | 10 MB | 35 MB |
| 8 | FrontlinesPaul Brandoli, Georgia Magree, Dylan Mamid, Tyler Marenyi, Zachary Rapp-Rovan | Zeds Dead, NGHTMRE | Play | 03:34 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 9 | Already DoneJustin Clarke, Ghetts, Dylan Mamid, Zachary Rapp-Rovan | Zeds Dead | Play | 03:52 | 8 MB | 28 MB |
| 10 | DimemoriesDylan Mamid, Zachary Rapp-Rovan | Zeds Dead | Play | 04:35 | 10 MB | 27 MB |
| 11 | Where Did That GoLaura Jane Lowther, Dylan Mamid, Zachary Rapp-Rovan | Zeds Dead | Play | 04:39 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 12 | Neck and NeckDylan Mamid, Zachary Rapp-Rovan, Martina Sorbara | Zeds Dead | Play | 03:32 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 13 | This Is MeStephanie Brown, Dylan Mamid, Zachary Rapp-Rovan | Zeds Dead | Play | 03:23 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 14 | SymphonyDylan Mamid, Charlotte O'Connor, Zachary Rapp-Rovan | Zeds Dead, Charlotte OC | Play | 03:52 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 15 | Slow DownJason Kai Yim Chau, Dylan Mamid, James McCauley, Memorecks, Jenna Pemkowski, Zachary Rapp-Rovan | Zeds Dead | Play | 03:37 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 57 mins | 132 MB | |||||
| 57 mins | 395 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atlas | Composer, Featured Artist |
| 2 | Paul Brandoli | Composer |
| 3 | Stephanie Brown | Composer |
| 4 | Alexander Castillo | Composer |
| 5 | Charlotte OC | Primary Artist |
| 6 | Jason Kai Yim Chau | Composer |
| 7 | Justin Clarke | Composer |
| 8 | Rivers Cuomo | Composer, Featured Artist |
| 9 | Diplo | Primary Artist |
| 10 | Dragonette | Featured Artist |
| 11 | Elliphant | Featured Artist |
| 12 | Ghetts | Composer, Featured Artist |
| 13 | Lukasz Gottwald | Composer |
| 14 | Jadakiss | Composer, Featured Artist |
| 15 | George Lewis Jr. | Composer |
| 16 | Lips | Featured Artist |
| 17 | Laura Jane Lowther | Composer |
| 18 | Georgia Magree | Composer |
| 19 | Gg Magree | Featured Artist |
| 20 | Dylan Mamid | Composer |
| 21 | Tyler Marenyi | Composer |
| 22 | James McCauley | Composer |
| 23 | Memorecks | Composer |
| 24 | NGHTMRE | Primary Artist |
| 25 | Charlotte O'Connor | Composer |
| 26 | Ellinor Olovsdotter | Composer |
| 27 | Jenna Pemkowski | Composer, Featured Artist |
| 28 | Thomas Wesley Pentz | Composer |
| 29 | Jason Phillips | Composer |
| 30 | Pusha T | Composer, Featured Artist |
| 31 | Zachary Rapp-Rovan | Composer |
| 32 | Martina Sorbara | Composer |
| 33 | Styles P | Composer, Featured Artist |
| 34 | David Styles | Composer |
| 35 | Terrence Thorton | Composer |
| 36 | Twin Shadow | Composer, Featured Artist |
| 37 | Tommy Tysper | Composer |
| 38 | Zeds Dead | Primary Artist |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |