Producer, songwriter, and vocalist, Killstation, delivers his first track of 2022 with his single “DIAGONAL.” The self-produced track takes a different direction than his 2021 album XXII, with Killstation moving away from more prominent beats and aggressive deliveries in favor of more stripped back, psychedelic choices.
Sonically this new track takes pieces from all of the styles he’s tried before and incorporates them in the short runtime of this song. “DIAGONAL” leans a lot of different ways stylistically to the point that it is hard for someone to pin it into one category. Though it’s hard to define genre, this track knows what it is and what it wants to get across.
The core of “DIAGONAL” is built around a few piano chords alongside some humming. The entire track consists of only four lines of lyrics that get repeated throughout like a mantra. It feels like Killstation embraced the scarcity of this track to emphasize the message of the song. The scarcity also allows for the production to shine when it comes to the instrumental break and vocal chops. It’s always a risk changing up your sound as an artist, especially scaling things back, but Killstation has always been an experimental artist and these new directions work for what he’s trying to accomplish.
The repetition of the lyrics throw the listener into a trance as the track evolves, pairing that with the hazy piano part creates the same feeling of loss that the song is trying to get across. All of the staples of a Killstation track are still here, even with the shift in style, the pitched up and distorted vocal samples come in hard and add even more to the sensation of being adrift. Killstation captured the sensation of searching on this song, it feels as if this track is a moment to reflect on whoever or whatever may come to mind for you when you first hear the track. “DIAGONAL” is a plea of trying to return to someone while at the same time creating a feeling of isolation. Killstation is sharing his frustration and grief on this track and bringing you in to sit with it too, ”I’ve been looking for your love everyday, I will look around the world”.