Where do we even begin with this one? Toronto-based artist Tep No has only one original track to his name, but the track in question, "Promises", has completely blown us away, and that's no small feat considering the massive quantities of music that the Hillydilly staff listens to each day. Tep No has tagged the track "dream pop", and while we would say that that's probably an apt description, there's so much more going on here than just that. For starters, he's managed to make a track that's entirely driven by synth melodies, and it doesn't sound the least bit cheesy or dated. This is a rather herculean feat, and when you take into account the fact that the full-bodied production work isn't something you hear often these days, you'll quickly start to realize this song is truly one of a kind. There's something vaguely lo-fi about the track, and this characteristic is what really separates Tep No's sound from the countless others trying to evoke similarities. The employed style of production is something you almost never see in synth-pop, because, if done wrong, it could come off as amateurish or just plain bad. However, Tep No rides the ragged edge with "Promises" and all that fuzz and subtle white noise sitting just below the surface, giving the project a sense of originality and authenticity which is almost impossible to nail down in the genre. It's not obvious at first, but one might be justified in making comparisons to other acts like Hippie Sabotage or Snakehips. Yes, they work in totally different mediums, but there's an inexplicable sense of "effortless cool" that comes across when you hear their music, and with Tep No's "Promises", we've that exact same dynamic rearing its head.
Tep No