Birthed in Vancouver and grown across the globe, Crystals is the latest artist collective you need to know. They first caught our ear with Crystals Vol. 1, but it’s their latest installment that has truly blown us away. Founded by Canadian producer So Sus, the collective has a strong disregard for genre-based barriers. Opting instead to showcase a myriad of forward-thinking sounds with each quarterly release. Their goal is two fold: showcase the best under-the-radar talent and help strengthen the music community in their native Vancouver. “There is a lot of talent in the city and we want to showcase and cultivate that whether through shows or feedback sessions or any other wild ideas we may have. Ultimately we want musicians to stop leaving the city, it just seems once musicians get some success they tend to move to Toronto, Montreal, LA or wherever,” says So Sus.
The collective also has an open door submission policy allowing artists a chance to be featured on upcoming compilations. How do you land on their next compilation? “Basically, the defining factor is the freshness of the musical ideas. There were some submissions that were actually good songs but for us, things like progressive house has been around for years and just doesn’t feel very fresh anymore. So main criteria is to be more forward thinking. There were a few songs that were just not there in terms of mixdown or what not, which was sad. But style wise were on the money. We are not only looking for club bangers especially on Vol. 1 of our compilation, we had these almost calm ballads. So it’s not genre specific at all. Which is great because we even got some R&B tracks as submissions which we would have loved to feature on the compilation but the technical/mixing side of them was just not there,” explains So Sus. So if you’re an upcoming artist with some unreleased heat be sure to slide into their inbox wearecrystals@gmail.com.
As for Crystals Vol. 2, it’s their biggest release date. With their submission volume and quality increasingly greatly it’s a massive win for fans. The 8 track offering gives us insight into the future of music. Songs like Zhuk’s ‘Gump Life’ and Yagi’s ‘Better’ prove that future bass is still evolving in the underground. ‘Slow Death’ and ‘Who Left The Car Door Open’ fuse emotional appeal with hard hitting trap for sounds that are beautifully banging. Lazy G’s ‘Godmode’ is just what the title ensues. Blending looped and pitched rap vocals with brain-bending bass and a wordly bounce makes it a clear standout. Speaking of wordly, ‘Sombrero’ takes you to Mexico where Mariachi meets trap. The project is rounded out by Moxsa’s Fergie flipping ‘VIP’ anthem and the laid-back groove of Baxters ‘Kim Chi’. Every track on this compilation goes and showcases the wealth of underground talent the world has to offer. Stream below and grab the free download. Look out for Crystals, they’re next.
