The Grand Mirage - Robotaki

Sometimes the most replayable projects are the ones that don't do much.

"The Grand Mirage" is one of those projects. Robotaki's debut album doesn't do very much at all. It's 12 tracks of hopeful atmospheres and ethereal synths, hailing from both instrumental and vocal departments — though primarily from the latter. And yes, whilst it is a more relaxed vibe, it isn't quiet by any means; Robotaki brings some wonderful energy to "The Grand Mirage", not an intense or hard-hitting energy, but an energy that provides some life to the tracklist, whether that be in the form of strong future bass synthwork or commercial-leaning vocals. That life, that character, complements the mood of the project very nicely, lending itself to a melodic, floaty vibe that can be chill at times, introspective at others, and upbeat at others still. The vocal features help immensely — all the vocalists are fantastic — but that doesn't take away from the instrumental prowess of Robotaki in this project, and the vocal-less tracks like "Dukkha" and "Quasar" are memorable in their own right. "The Grand Mirage" moves slowly, to be sure, but Robotaki makes the pacing the album's strength — it knows it should move slowly, and it's in no rush to finish. After all, if it hurried through its tracklist, how on earth would we get such a fulfilled atmosphere? Though it does only run for just under 43 minutes, "The Grand Mirage" is very easy to get lost in, and in that — in its late-night, reflective, easygoing immersiveness — it finds its strength. But it also manages to find its weakness, not in the same place it found its strength per se, but somewhat related to it: "The Grand Mirage" doesn't quite escape repetitiveness. Robotaki aims for a very specific mood, and for the most part, he achieves it, but that comes with the very clear drawback, in that "The Grand Mirage" suddenly becomes a lot more situational as a project. Many mood-oriented albums have this flaw, but arguably not to the extent that "The Grand Mirage" has — not being in the 'right' mood means finding the holistic project quite boring and a drag to get through.

So yes, there's something to be said about the expertise the easygoing atmosphere is executed with, but also that Robotaki forgets to account for practically every other listening frame of mind. The mood of the project is brilliant, but only situationally brilliant; and so if you're looking for an album to sit back and relax to, then I implore you to give this a try — but otherwise, don't bother.