Audien Reaches a New Milestone with ‘ESCAPISM’

On ESCAPISM, Audien explores multiple themes, employs a variety of beat styles, and stays true to his exemplary style to create an impressive album.

The wait is finally over as the first album from Audien, ESCAPISM, is finally out for listeners to enjoy. Having been an integral part of the scene for the larger part of the last decade, he has performed at major festivals like EDC Las Vegas, Electric Zoo, and Tomorrowland while also building a loyal following.

Over the years Audien has steadily risen through the ranks while creating beautiful classics like “Never Letting Go”, “Something Better”, and “Crazy Love”. Now, the storied artist released his album, ESCAPISM. The 11 track LP reflects his growth as a producer but remains true to the sound he’s built for himself.

Related: Will you be catching Audien live on his debut headlining ESCAPISM tour?

Thematically, ESCAPISM taps into different relationship tropes that many listeners will immediately relate to. Essentially, On the album, Audien tells multiple stories by combining motifs with his signature sound. ESCAPISM is a fitting title for this body of work, the elements present in the album lift the reader to a new state of mind after a thorough listen through. There’s something for everyone in this album and the quality of production makes the wait well worth it.

Stream Audien – ESCAPISM on Spotify:

Audien’s production style is sublime and dreamy and ESCAPISM reflects his classic sound.

The lead-off track “See You On The Other Side” is a warm welcome to the album. The slow-building track is complete with orchestral and piano elements, drawing you into the journey that’s about to unfold. Pairing with the theme of the album, it’s setting up the escape. Not to mention the quick yet grand progressive drop is reflective of Audien’s traditional musical recipe.

“Escape” with Nomra is another notable track that embodies vintage Audien. The pace of the track is a tad faster and the ultimate drop aligns with more big room influence. It’s an epic track that’s ideal for a live setting.

“Something Greater Interlude” is a piano rendition of Audien’s 2015 release “Something Better”, which is one of his most career-defining tracks. It’s not produced in the same fashion as the original because it’s a piano cover yet it’s still worth noting because it’s paying respects to a previous era in his career.

The final track consistent with Audien’s time-honored style is “Dreams” with Axis. This track actually has a unique lead-in, employing a chopped vocal as part of the melody before building into a trance influenced drop. Like “Escape,” “Dreams” is absolutely ideal for the live experience and fans should look forward to hearing it in the near future.

ESCAPISM is a promise of hope, and tracks “Buzzing” and “Favorite Sound” share those messages of positivity.

Ahead of the official album drop, Audien released “Buzzing” (feat. Nevve) as a single. “Buzzing” is a sort of quasi-ballad, centered around letting go and finding hope in transitional periods. Everyone goes through a period of change, sometimes the road isn’t easy. The story is an extra caveat to the album, there’s a deeper meaning in the songs present. This track was sort of a combination of Nevve narrating the story and Audien’s backing track setting up the underlying atmosphere.

“Favorite Sound” promotes conquering self-doubt in trying times. First of all, it’s amazing that Audien was able to release this track with Echosmith, who themselves have released some legendary indie-alternative songs. Anyways, “Favorite Sound” conveys a crucial message, one that every listener at some point needs to hear. Many people are their own worst critics and sometimes they need to tune out their negative internal thoughts. The newfound silence that arises from tuning out those thoughts is a beautiful escape and the silence is the new ‘favorite sound’ hence the song title.

It’s an honest self-reflection that gives a listener a sense of reassurance in themselves. Even the drop’s general mood is more grounded and driven, it’s literally rung out with a different pitch to help secure the message.

Audien goes further to explore some deeper themes and tones in “Rollercoaster”, “Over It” and “Heaven”.

“Rollercoaster” featuring Liam O’Donnell is actually a re-release from last year. The BPM has been slowed down a tad in this track and the main message present is that relationships are not perfect. All real relationships experience irregular sequences of highs and lows, it takes a true bout of courage to remain together through everything. The main drop reaches high and low pitches so the melody can coincide with the title, lyrics, and message of the track.

“Heaven” featuring Maty Noyes has the deepest tones of the album. The track is about longing to say one final goodbye to a lost loved one. There’s inner grief and acceptance, but one still yearns for Heaven to have a direct line to have one last phone call with a recent loss. Yet even through loss, the sense is more that it’s not really the end if you never say goodbye. The drop for the track, built on piano and trance synths, holds that tinge that hope is still there.

“Over It” is a breakup song with a unique twist. The singer isn’t upset, nor remorseful of the recent break, she’s actually blessed and excited for the change. It’s coming to your senses, being so over it that you’re blessed and lucky to escape the toxic relationship. In this context, the escape from a former lover is a moral self-victory and Audien’s celebrating it through the gleeful drop.

ESCAPISM is a sharply crafted body of work that elates the listener through its positive themes and resplendent melodies.

Audien took his time to lift this album to its full potential. The 33-minute total run time of the album is polished with messages of self-love and acceptance. He did a great job accomplishing multiple difficult feats in the same release. This album is ready to go for the main stage and it can almost definitely improve the mood of whoever the listener is.

Audien has grown into an artist capable of releasing top-tier work from a diverse array of genres without comprising his original identity. ESCAPISM represents a new chapter in Audien’s career, he’s only going up from here.

Audien – ESCAPISM – Tracklist:

See You On The Other Side

Reach (feat. Jamie Hartmann)

Escape (with Nomra)

Buzzing (with Nevve)

Favorite Sound (with Echosmith)

Over It

Heaven (feat. Maty Noyes)

Dreams (with Axis)

Something Greater Interlude (with Cerulean)

Rollercoaster (feat. Liam O’Donnell)

Sleep Paralysis (with Cignature)