Erich Mrak’s music could easily take you back to the Goa Trance days of Martin Freeland’s AKA Man With No Name’s Chillout tracks, as well as throwing you into realms of Frank Ocean, when he is delivering an atmospheric and relaxing yet powerful vocal performance, similarly to Erich, which is unusual considering how deep Mrak’s voice can go. Anyhow, it is still enough to captivate you and send you into a trance.
In this regard, Erich Mrak easily joins the wave of euphoric Alt-Electro singers and songwriters such as James Blake, evidenced on Mrak’s track ‘See You In September,’ a song which is therapeutic music without a doubt. You would anticipate ‘See You In September’ to lean slightly toward the more Hardcore side of Synth music when its’ distorted bassline drops in its opening, sounding like a sound effect from Bjork’s “Homogenic” era, but this element soon softens as soon as Erich’s calming voice enters, alongside reverb and delay-effected keyboards, which instantly take you away from any negativity you may have been initially surrounded by.
However, despite ‘See You In September’s’ utopian feel, its official music video takes you on a different journey, in which the cameras follow a very distressed man, bringing about issues of paranoia and suicide. It was filmed on the streets of Toronto where Erich lives.
Erich comments on his visual, “our intent was to illustrate what life looked like at the inception of the EP. Beginning the short is an abstract interpretation of a state of groundlessness, with the failure to cope with emotions driving the loneliness deeper. The Erich you’re faced with is one that is trying to numb himself and push through the waves.”
It is a gripping visual art piece, which is a must-watch, and one which also leaves an open door for a possible ‘Pt. 2.’