TuneLab
Mathame
at Reforma 180 heliport in Mexico City for Cercle
Mathame broadcasting from a heliport overlooking Mexico City's skyline is exactly the kind of over-the-top visual spectacle we secretly crave. It's music for feeling epic about your own life, for pretending the city lights below are synced to the breakdown. The vibe at Reforma 180 is one of sleek, futuristic isolation, a concrete perch perfect for the brothers' widescreen, emotive melodic techno. Technically, this set is a powerhouse of precision-engineered emotion, locked into a high-octane 127.6 BPM average that never lets the energy flag.
The key of 12A is the anchor, giving the soaring leads and vocal hooks a bright, anthemic quality, with modulations to 10B and 4A introducing moments of darker tension and release. The energy split is remarkably balanced for the genre, with a 0.54 low-end providing a solid kick-drum foundation and a 0.42 mid-range allowing their intricate melodies and arpeggios to shine with crystal clarity. The mixing is fluid and filmic, often letting tracks breathe and evolve fully to maximize their narrative impact. The crate digging here is heavily personal, featuring a slew of their own productions and remixes that define their sound.
Their collaboration with Lyke, 'Nothing Around Us', opens the set with its haunting vocals and driving rhythm, immediately establishing the emotional stakes. Adriatique's 'Mystery' gets the Tale Of Us & Mathame treatment, transforming it into a gargantuan, choir-led epic. Hunter/Game's 'Dark Aster' provides a welcome dose of shadowy, peak-time drive, while Marino Canal's 'Curious Eyes' offers a more nuanced, deeply melodic interlude. The journey is a relentless ascent: launching from the dramatic opener 'Nothing Around Us', climbing through the remix of 'Mystery' as a definitive peak, and touching down with the introspective pulse of Lyke's 'Feel Myself', leaving us hovering above the city, thoroughly rinsed.