With the drum and bass duo known as Delta Heavy continuing to sell out their Paradise Lost stage show across the globe, the duo show no signs of easing off the gas pedal as their latest mind-bender, “Gravity,” out now via Ram Records can attest.
Able to merge the celestial with that straight-up dancefloor rinseout, Delta Heavy continue to drop jaws with each and every release as they continue to go for a sound that elevates listeners beyond the dancefloor. Their latest output has an epic cinematic feel to it that could easily bridge the festival and big screen alike. Having been candid about their love of cinema, soundtracks, and sci-fi in particular, we thought we’d tap the Ram stalwarts for a glimpse into the alien dreamscapes that have been inspiring their latest output, with a specific look at breaking down “Gravity” for all the producer-types out there hoping to translate visions of their own.
But before you dig into their “Interstellar Gravity Playlist” below, be sure to lock in your pre-sale tix to Bassrush Massive at the NOS Center where you can catch Delta Heavy dropping their own brand of alien-heat on the dancefloor throughout the weekend of July 20-21. Tickets and full details available here.
Steven Price “The Void”
“Taken from the soundtrack of the film that shares the same title as our track. The initial idea for ‘Gravity’ actually came from a synth preset we stumbled upon that felt very similar to some of the sounds used in the film, and you can hear them in this piece from the soundtrack. It’s that intense, descending, slightly brassy sounding synth that really gives that sense of spinning out of control and floating off into space.”
Hans Zimmer “Detach”
“From the initial sound discussed we tried to focus on that as the concept for the track and the feelings we wanted the music to invoke. As in a lot of our work we were heavily influenced by the mighty Hans Zimmer. This piece from our beloved Interstellar soundtrack encapsulates the vibe we were trying to create in the intro, building tension and atmosphere out of relative calm, and marrying orchestral elements such as big horns with synthetic parts.”
Alva Noto “Xerrox Mesosphere”
“One of my favorite ambient artists, Alva Noto builds huge tension and suspense simply through drones and his use of noise, space and reverb. Taken from his Xerrox album, this track perfectly embodies the feeling of floating through a vast, endless void. Although it ends up being very subtle we use a lot of drone-like atmospheres and white noise in our intros and breakdowns to give a sense of physical space and to give the music an environment to sit in.”
Pendulum “Axle Grinder”
“We’ve had quite a few people online commentating that ‘Gravity’ is reminiscent of older Pendulum records—a comparison we’re very flattered to receive—so we thought it would be apt to include an old favorite in this playlist. Tracks like this were a big influence in how we’ve shaped our sound, especially the pure dancefloor tracks we make. It’s very nice to be mentioned in the same breath!”
Ben Salisbury & Geoff Barrow “The Alien”
“The infamous part of the Annihilation soundtrack from one of the last scenes in the film. Unbelievably trippy, otherworldly and intense. It also contains the iconic four note cipher that was heard in the trailer which becomes the film’s audio signature. We aimed to do the same thing with the brass riff in ‘Gravity’ that plays just before the drop, to create something people would instantly identify with despite the tracks not having a feature vocal or dominant melody line.”