It’s fascinating when you think about it, how we react to a song is very much dependant on the circumstances under which it is heard for the first time, or the mood we are in, in some cases it could be our internal chemical balance, enhanced or otherwise, that makes you think something is amazing. Similarly, the way music can affect you, the change it can impact upon your mood and even your outlook on a situation never ceases to amaze us. In particular, it’s the way music has of seeping into your soul and triggering emotion and memories, you develop associations that last forever and that can be sparked quickly and completely.
So it was with the music of Australian Mark Zito, or Fractures as he is now known as. Specifically his latest work, a swooshing, otherworldly cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” which instantly hit the spot in our brain reserved for ‘ahhhh shit, this is awesome’ moments. As we’ve mentioned before, “Space Oddity” has a very special and important place in our music loving heart, so to hear it remixed in such a unique and beautiful way tickled us way more than pink. It has a suitably retro, 70’s sci-fi flick feel to it while still retaining enough Bowie-ness within this near complete re-working to be instantly recognisable. It’s probably one of the best remixes we’ve heard (and it’s available to download for free as well).
We shouldn’t be surprised though as Fractures is a project of distinguished quality. Dreamy electro soundscapes are complemented with soft, soulful falsetto vocals that, on “Twisted” in particular, ring out with a richness that would stop a rhino’s heart. Elsewhere, on “Embers” for example, they near whisper along delicately before building into big and evocative crescendos of atmospheric folksiness. It sounds like an odd mix but by God it works.
The sounds are patient, controlled but not angular; they melt and float into one another as with the likes of London Grammar and evoke dark atmospherics like Paper Crows. It’s not just the gloriousness of this electronic instrumentation that has us so excited either; it is the combination, the perfect symbiotic combination, with the dusk-like lyrics and vocals. Like Radiohead and even Kindness to a degree, Fractures blends light and dark, retro and futuristic, indie and electro and he does so to a dazzling degree.
Depending on your mood when you listen, his music could balm an enraged soul or stir a lethargic one to action; it could warm a frozen heart or cause ice tears to run down your face. Whichever emotion it sparks, whichever feeling or memory comes cascading to the forefront of your mind, you will be left in no doubt that this is music of genuine quality and deserved of repeated listens and undivided attention.
Fractures is currently prepping his debut EP to be released mid-2013.
StalkFractures: Website / Facebook / Soundcloud / Twitter
Alphabet Bands 
might be a bit on the slower side for me…..