Primer - 'A Broken Person's Game'

Michigan-based vocalist/ producer Primer (Alyssa Midcalf) envelops her listener in hazy synth pop nostalgia on her current single, ‘A Broken Person’s Game’ out now via YHS Records.

I’m very picky about the kind of synth-pop I tend to enjoy, but Primer’s ‘A Broken Person’s Game’ ticks all the boxes for me. Primer juxtaposes slow-burning, brooding textures with airy, buoyant elements of production to fashion a thrilling, dense, soundscape that washes over its listener in crashing waves of emotion. In making use of both sweet sentimentalism and nostalgic melancholia in her production, Primer sets the tone as both ambient and emotive, seeing the song evolve into an overwhelmingly cathartic and hypnotic listening experience.

While the track’s turbulent, immersive sonic layers are bold and impressive, the production does not drown out Primer’s captivating vocal and intimate lyrical theme and it is her vocal which drives the song forward, as the production dramatically swirls and builds around her. This is a soul-stirring song to get lost in, but also to find yourself in. Primer allows her listener to feel deeply alongside her, but also allows them to feel safe and comforted within the warm enveloping textures in the track and that in itself makes it a deeply beautiful piece of music.

Words of Karla Harris

’A Broken Person’s Game’ is taken from Primer’s debut album ‘Novelty,’ out March 1st on upstart Detroit label Young Heavy Souls