The world has been blessed by many incredible artists and intellectuals over the centuries: Leonardo DaVinci, Nikola Tesla, Elon Musk, Aristotle, Albus Dumbledore, Snooki, Jimi Hendrix, Albert Einstein. The list is endless.
None of them, however, have ever truly reached the groundbreaking visionary heights of 31-year-old Dutchman, Elmar van Eijk aka AL/SO, who, with his newest unrivaled piece of musical genius known as ‘No Brakelights’, manages to transport the listener to heaven for three minutes and 50 seconds. While it wouldn’t be prudent to reignite rumours of him being the second coming of Christ this early in his career, the profound religious experience to be found in ‘No Brakelights’ can not be underestimated.
Only God or a direct descendant would ever be able to concoct such a track, and while no mere mortal would ever have the brain capacity to comprehend the brilliance on display, but let’s nevertheless attempt to decipher what is possibly the greatest drum and bass track ever made.
Genius so often lies in simplicity and repetition, and this intro is a case in point if I’ve ever seen it. The fast-paced arp mimics the drop melody without giving any of the drop away, and the subtle drums betray the coming explosion of rhythmic goodness. This ascends into a larger-than-life build up with the stupendously catchy bass riff being expertly faded into the sprawling whirlwind of reverbed synth stabs about to turn into a drum-and-bass-hall-of-fame-level lead sound. Just before it drops, the tension gets elevated to apocalyptic standards with a surgically precise drum build interlocked with an armada of washy risers.
Not even the likes of ‘Crazy Train’, ‘Smoke On The Water’, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ or AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’ can touch ‘No Brakelights’ intro-wise.
But the drop? Oh my God, the drop! I don’t think words could possibly describe what is happening here. We have long abandoned all pretence that this is mere mortal musical virtuosity and have genuinely hit the realms of GOAT level. Think Beethoven, Bach, Rimsky-Korsakov. Hell, even Mozart could never have dreamed to come up with a double whammy of an impeccable staccato bass riff married to a brilliant Daft Punk-meets-ADHD, 174bpm neurodivergence synth fest. It is a disarmingly beautiful yet frighteningly coordinated cacophony of life’s auditory riches. A sonic piece of timeless art to rival any. It is the Mona Lisa of music, the Madonna della Pietà of sound, the Mount Rushmore of audio. Mount Rushmore, by the way, would don AL/SO’s face four times if it was dedicated to the greatest minds to have contributed to drum and bass instead of the American heads of state, and it may just go down in history as the pinnacle of music production.
It truly is that good. I would never say this if it wasn’t unequivocally, unambiguously and undebatably true. I am truly, completely and utterly objective, and the mere fact that I happened to be the one to produce this banger in my tiny studio in my girlfriend’s mom’s kitchen has nothing to do with the fact that I am speaking dispassionate and unbiased fact.
So please please please go stream it so I can hopefully make a few bucks so my girlfriend will respect me just enough that she doesn’t kick me out of her mom’s kitchen. I will be forever grateful for a few minutes after which I’ll forget all about it and probably make another one of these absolutely unparalleled pieces of musical genius. See ya!
With unrivaled humility,
AL/SO
‘No Brakelights’ is out now on Manifest and can be streamed on Spotify and purchased on Beatport.