Orenda comes to Gravitas for lead single from forthcoming debut EP, ‘Numinus’ [Premiere]

November 12, 2019

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For music aficionados in the underground world of bass, keep your eyes and ears peeled for rising bass producer Orenda. The Gravitas newcomer, also known as Trevor Phipps, is certain to make great strides over the next year. The Denverite has already got a solid live resume having performed his wonky blend of tribal-infused bass at many burns and consciously-attuned events on the West Coast, including One Love, Northern Nights, Firedrums, Wormhole, and Burning Man. He’s even opened for several CE favorite bass music acts, from An-Ten-Nae, Stylust, EPROM, and Shlump, to several big-name artists like Ekali, Minnesota, Baauer, and more.

Now comes the seminal, stepping-stone moment in any young producer’s career: the debut EP. After two successful singles in the Gravitas Infusion series, Orenda is soon poised to release his 7-track Reverie EP. The forthcoming project marks not just Orenda’s most cohesive body of work to date but Gravitas’s last release of the year. The overarching theme of the EP is to present the stark contrast between light and dark, but also show how the two form a ying-and-yang relationship.

We have the honor of premiering the third track off the EP, “Numinus,” which derives its name from the Latin translation of the word “Numinous.” The word is defined as a powerful feeling of both fear and fascination, of being in awe and overwhelmed by what is before you.

“I thought that this title worked perfectly in tandem with the theme of the album, light versus dark,” says Orenda told CE on naming the track. “This track displayed that theme perhaps stronger than any other on the EP, conveying major contrast between the ethereal and organic intro and bridge, with the massive electronic drops.”

“Numinus” begins fluidly with beautiful, melodic influences building to the song’s initial drop, which stifles with aggressive, powerful, bass-riddled elements. The song moves back into subtlety at its ethereal middle point, introducing world-influenced chants and soothing mantras, before taking a deep dive into dub on the final drop. Stabbing synths and repetitive battle chants mar the track, but only insofar as they blend back into the ethereal elements, thus representing the cyclical relationship of light and dark. The final message seems to be this: One cannot move into the light without passing through the darkness.

Orenda has coupled the track premiere with the announcement of his debut EP, Reverie, due on November 15 via Gravitas Recordings. The forthcoming release marks his first time working on a musical project of this magnitude. If ever “Numinus” was a journey-filled experience, just wait until the full EP.

Pre-order Reverie now, here.