I love it when artists have multiple projects. Like how Josh Tillman dipped his beak into both Fleet Foxes and Father John Misty. It just gets me thinking, “Wow, this guy is a bit of a chameleon. Completely versatile. He can think in a few different ways and be awesome at all of them“. It makes me and probably most of us ‘normal’ people feel entirely inadequate and leaves us questioning what we’re doing with our lives. Well, my fellow thinkers, we have another chameleon in out midst. Introducing Rowan Cane, once indie rocker of Minus House and new electro producer dubbed as Motioner.
Sit back, put your feet up, and allow yourself to fall helplessly into the cloud of ambiance that is Sydney’s Motioner.
Both projects have a lot of stylistic commonalities between them. The same kind of melodies and instrumentation can be found with just one main difference: an electronic foundation. For those who like to compare and contrast, this pair could be a nice cup of tea with just a smidge of honey in it. But as for this spiel, I’m going to focus on the Sydney muso’s newer project, Motioner.
Talking to Cane, he tells me that his musical journey began in producing. Before his indie rocker days in Minus House, he was really into creating indie electro tracks, he had just never released anything. When Minus House disbanded, Cane decided to get back into producing and released the project’s debut single Desire Dies at the end of 2014. Later in 2015, Motioner released another single Future Drunk and toured three dates in Sydney and Melbourne. Then, in late 2015, Motioner scored a support gig with Dead Letter Circus at Newtown Social Club.
Soon enough producer Dax Liniere jumped on the Motioner project. Liniere has a whole lot of experience in producing. He’s worked with bands like the ARIA nominated sleepmakeswaves and Meniscus, another post-rock and psychedelic project. With his help, Motioner’s upcoming album should be on point and don’t fret, it is coming soon. Cane says that we may be able to expect the new album in May or June.
To get down to it, Motioner swims in trance-like ambience. And ambience, by the traditional definition I found on the world wide web, is having a larger focus on atmosphere than musical structure. The sounds Cane produces are airy, delicate and surprise you with their intricacy. His voice just glides smoothly over some fluffy clouds, very soft and light, but poignant. These gorgeous sounds are manipulated to create complex poly-rhythms that overlap and intertwine with the main melody almost seamlessly.
All in all, if you like tunes that evoke a dream state of reflection and some pretty heavy vocals, Motioner will do more than suit.
