As with anything, dubstep has its poles. On the one hand, you have Excision, Zomboy, Virtual Riot and the like who push a harder, more visceral sound. On the other, you have The Others, Truth, any of the artists on Sub.Mission, and more who go the deeper, more soulful route. Neither is inherently better or “more dubstep” than the other, but the existence of both is a sort of yin and yang affair.
On the deep end of the spectrum, CharlesTheFirst x tiedye ky have just put out their new song “Love & Enemies.”
The song begins slow and fanciful, with delicately strummed guitar and an atmospheric array of synths that seem to just float around everything else. It’s a delightful little misdirection before the heavy bass kicks in, only punctuated by the occasional percussion — there’s no screeching synths or even really melody to speak of, allowing the bass to carry you through the song like a thick, murky river. 
What little melody the song utilizes is expertly mixed in like a brief respite. And it is brief, as the bass once again surges forth.
Oddly enough, my favorite part of the song isn’t the bass or the melody, it’s actually just that one singular snare toward the final moments of the song… as everything else fades away and becomes quieter, that one snare remains, loud and reverberating as if coming from deep within a cave. I’m not sure what it is, but listening to that one snare with headphones on just puts me at ease.
Hopefully you can find your own favorite element of the song — surely enough there’s plenty to dissect. Listen to “Love & Enemies” from CharlesTheFirst x tiedye ky below.
