Klem is an artist of many talents. With an alternative rock project on the way under his name, Ryan Klem, there was a need for a different type of project. Using production techniques learned over the past 10 years along with help from a variety of vocalists and other artists, as well as creative thinkers, Klem has channeled all that he knows into one project, Aesthetic, a full length album due out this winter. In the meantime Klem whets listeners’ appetites with the track, “The Truth” (ft. Rino). Thirty-six seconds into this track, and something becomes abundantly clear: Klem knows how to produce rap music. That wasn’t a given. Considering that he’s been working on alternative rock projects. The conscious writing is lean and crisp, and Rino’s rapping is filled with fire-eyed intensity. This result is a towering wave of all-embracing sound, a pure musical dopamine rush that floods through the track. It’s an absolutely beautiful sound, and it pays off all the tension that the opening bars build up.
“The Truth” (ft. Rino) is a very deep cut, the type of song that a rap producer would only know if that given producer was a true scholar of his craft. With Rino’s voice over it and Klem’s beat under it, the song sounds atmospherically glorious. Whatever musical paths Klem has been down in the past few months, he proves himself very capable of an urban thing like this.
Klem understands Rino. Rino understands Klem. This is crucial for the project to stand out. The four minute briefness of a single, brings the absolute best out of Klem and Rino, who try to say as much as possible with the song, without wasting words and time.
The song is capable of telling its whole story in a couple of immaculately worded bars. There is enormous joy to be had in hearing the way it can describe entire thought processes in the space of a single rhyme. Rino’s voice thrives in the context of cinematic-styled production that builds knife-edge tension through space, warm keyboard sounds, and throbbing beats.
All of which Klem encapsulates and infuses into “The Truth”. It’s a piece of music that creates its own reverberating and mood-inducing atmosphere. One of the best things about the song is just hearing the word choices, and how it lines up with the underlying sounds.
Klem’s careful production editing ensures that every bar and every sound have purpose. It’s difficult to make music that sounds exclusive when anybody can access millions of songs from their phones at any given time. Yet Klem succeeds in doing just that. By staying focused and concise here, he makes a big statement.
Classic but current. “The Truth” (ft. Rino) turns out to be sort of a stone-faced statement of stylistic integrity which signals high points in the musical careers of both the featured artist and the producer. That should be impetus enough for you to appreciate “The Truth” as a work of sheer production quality and impeccable performance.
OFFICIAL LINKS: SPOTIFY – INSTAGRAM – FACEBOOK – SOUNDCLOUD
