Portland, Oregon’s TillaTone has been building his catalog since 2020, crossing 150,000 streams across Spotify and Apple Music while refining a sound that sits somewhere between psychedelic atmosphere and modern alternative hip-hop. He handles everything himself – writing, production, mixing, mastering – and “Alien Love,” released March 21st, is his most deliberate step yet toward finding what that process sounds like at its fullest. The goal with this one was punchy and expansive at the same time, which is a harder balance to pull off than it sounds.
Texturally, this song is very unique with the rotary guitar upfront, and the washed out melodic layers are reminiscent of Snowy White for but a moment, and then that modern, almost J-Dilla-esque groove comes in and gives the song an entirely different flavor, and then the vocals seal the deal. This is a fully realized artistic vision and is a beautifully fresh sound that everyone should listen to. It’s the kind of modern sound that would actually work really well in a live setting because there is so much room to play around.
TillaTone cites Pink Floyd, alt-J, and Mac Miller as touchstones, and all three are audible without the song leaning too hard on any of them. Six years into releasing music independently, “Alien Love” feels like the point where the influences stop being references and start being just part of how he writes. Worth your time.
