Maddy O’Neal has dropped Ricochet, her genre-bending sophomore album.
Ricochet sees the Denver-based electronic music producer at her most creative, alchemizing futuristic bass with electro-soul beats and funky, head-nodding disco. Complete with dazzling singles like the sparkling future bass banger "Never Fades" and the spacey “Follow Me," Ricochet is a bold body of work that showcases O'Neal's shapeshifting approach to sound design.
O'Neal's shrewd sampling and synthesizer work conjure drizzles of funky bass goodness throughout Ricochet. The album features a number of special guests, including Balkan Bump, Ryan Montbleau, Ryan Jalbert, MOONz, STS9’s Alana Rocklin and Lettuce’s Eric "Benny" Bloom, among others.
The album’s opener, “The Way Home,” leads listeners into a shimmering electronic realm as an Alan Watts-esque sample disintegrates into crashing percussion. “Affected” positions itself as one of the album’s standout tracks, as collaborators Montbleau, Jalbert, Rocklin, Bloom and WhyAwake deliver a groovy bass number full of staccato bass and horn garnishes.
Meanwhile, “Dystopia” marks one of the only two instrumentals on Ricochet, flinging listeners headlong into celestial soundscapes and euphoric bass. Take a listen below.