It's been more than a year since I posted about Fragics, the UK-based folktronica solo project from Jay Rodger. (And that's my fault, he's continued to make good music while I've just apparently been twiddling my thumbs.) But when he sent me his latest offering, "Arise" today, I knew it was going to be a keeper – and that it was high time to get this guy on our radars once again.
The track enters with a beam of synth lighting the way, Rodger's lax, lolling voice follows suit, and a few simple guitar plucks support the sunrise of sound. Just after one minute, humming and "ahs" enter, floating above a deeply resonating synth, luring us in with an eerie, Eastern Hemisphere inspired discord. The end of the song eases effortlessly from spooky to beautiful, like the night becoming dawn. A glimmering guitar solo closes out the track, the last note echoing for a few seconds and staying with us for much longer.
"Fragics" seems to be a portmanteau of other words: fragile, fragments, tragic…that on their own aren't that sensational. And Rodgers does the same thing with music by combining standard genres folk and electronic, opposing forces that when combined become the ultimate exercise in emotion and intrigue.
Check out Fragics' latest & greatest below, and then digitally fan him so the world can know about this great talent.
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