Matthew Rhind hails from Edinburgh where they went to school and studied music before building their ambitious musical project Hampi. The artist grew up playing bass and eventually joined the band Let Love Rule before setting out to make music on their own.
Their more recent work blends folk tropes with ambient noise and shoegaze elements. The sonic layers slowly accumulate creating an atmosphere that is entirely unique and always memorable. Each track feels like a dreamscape, one that invokes specific memories and actual places often without including any lyrics. To that end, the track “Was That You?” continues to push the artist in these same aesthetic directions.
The song opens with a sonic feel that is all nostalgia before culminating in a euphoric sound collage that washes over the listener in a post-rock haze. A reverb-soaked guitar opens the tune while a voice assures the listener mid-conversation that “it’s a vibe in general” and then succumbs to laughter. There is an amped up version of The Books in this tune, one that bears the familiar marks of bands like Mogwei and Do Make Say Think as well.
The result is cinematic in scope, even though it lasts a mere two minutes and six seconds. A vibe, indeed, one that lends itself to repetition and max volume. Please enjoy through the link below.
Written by SilenceKid
