I grew up listening to albums. Finding 10 plus songs from a recently discovered artist was the best feeling. I would rip open the plastic, throw it in my Walkman, and that bus ride to school the next day was going to be one to remember.
So, when I find an incredible bass music album, something about it hits a little different; it feels special, like going to the movies on a Friday night. That’s how Hostage Situation’s newest album, Hostile Frequencies, feels, like cinema in dubstep, an emotional ride from beginning to end.
This is a Hostage Situation
Hostage Situation is a dubstep trio hailing from Denver, Colorado. The deeper you dive into their body of work, you discover these dudes have real dubstep chops. From going on national tours, opening for Drinkurwater and Bear Grillz, they’re already collaborating with bass music staples and playing major festival gigs like Dancefestopia. Not to mention releasing notable collabs with GorillaT and Mport, all in recent years.
Now they’re back on the road with their own Hostile Frequencies tour to promote their latest album. The fellas told me they wanted to make an album that reflected their diverse tastes and hit all kinds of flavors on the bass music spectrum.
I’m usually against long albums, and at 20 tracks, this album is certainly long. I’m glad they left a lot here. While this album is unmistakably bass music, Hostage Situation said they wanted to experiment with the subgenres of dubstep, well they did just that and it works.
These are Hostile Frequencies
When you hear the album, it’s clear where all the work at the studio and time on the road went. It’s even more impressive considering they told me that they all hold down day jobs on top of holding crowds captivated at clubs around the country.
From the intro into the first song, “Burn for You,” the album already has noticeable intentionality. The group took a page out of Sullivan King’s book on “Problem.” That guitar solo comes ripping out of nowhere, and it’s awesome. The group talked about their “soft spot” for riddim and dubstep, and the album is obviously full of it from beginning to end, but it’s the tracks that veer off the beaten path that are stuck in a loop in my brain.
After a few listens through the album, “Jasmine” keeps standing out. Those funky big wobbles and distorted horns are wonderful to listen to, and the song sets the tone for the second half of the album, which was all over the place in the best way possible.
“Our sets have always been diverse and show a full story of what you can do with synthesizers, so that’s what we tried to do with the album. What haven’t we tried before?”
Hostile Frequencies is available to stream on Apple Music and Spotify. You can catch them on their Hostile Frequencies tour right now. They’ll be in Salt Lake City, Utah, at Project Pierpont on 10/4 and in Seattle at VICE on 10/10.
Hostile Frequencies – Album by Hostage Situation | Spotify
Hostile Frequencies – Album by Hostage Situation – Apple Music
Hostage Situation Music & Downloads on Beatport
