Reviewed: Anthony Watkins steps into his own world on new album ‘Pale Light’
- Undrtone Blog
- 21 hours ago
- 3 min read
Anthony Watkins has been around long enough to know exactly what he wants from his music. You hear that experience all over ‘Pale Light’. The album feels calm and confident. It feels patient. It feels like an artist stretching into a world of his own rather than chasing anything outside of it.
Across the tracklist, he blends organic house, dub-techno energy, and cosmic ambient moods. The result feels warm and human, but also spaced-out and interplanetary. Every track seems to float in its own atmosphere while still carrying his signature pulse.
‘Balmain’ opens the album with a strange and wonderful sway. The percussion rolls. The synths bend out of tune in a way that feels alive. The atmosphere moves between robotic and organic. You get reverberated pads that stretch into the background. You get a groove that feels steady but slightly warped. It is a bold opener because it shows you his sense of character before anything else.
‘Blue Dot’ follows and arrives as the album’s lead single. You can hear why it was chosen. The analogue textures feel rich. The deep house swing sits cleanly against the minimal structure. The echoed grooves pull you further in with each bar. It has that interplanetary character that runs through the whole project, but here it feels especially focused. Watkins gives the synths time to breathe, which makes the record both hypnotic and inviting.
‘Mirador’ brings a sharper rhythmic edge. Rolling arps take the lead. The drums echo into each other. The repetition becomes hypnotic. It sits in that pocket between late-night club energy and full-body headphone immersion.
‘Neptune’ is one of the most cinematic moments on the album. It feels huge. The ambience expands across the whole mix. The melodies flicker like signals from far away. The drums stay grounded and keep everything moving, but the mood stays dreamlike. It is alien and gripping at the same time.
‘Poplar’ goes even further into off-world territory. The pads rise and fall like distant choirs. The synth work feels celestial. The whole track vibrates with a sense of height and drift. It is one of the most atmospheric cuts here.
‘Sagan’ is a standout. It leans into breakbeat but keeps the softness of the wider album. The spoken word adds an immediate reflective tone. It feels introspective. It feels personal. It might be the most distinct track in the whole collection.
‘Wilfa Svart’ closes the album and holds a lot of weight. It pulls from dub techno and deep house. You get rumbling low end. You get endless delays. You get a slow-building groove that locks you in without ever rushing. The track feels intimate. It feels like a late-night conversation. You can hear his years behind decks and in club booths all over it. This is the sound of someone who understands patience in production.
Outside the album, ‘Wilfa Svart’ has already been called atmospheric therapy. That makes sense. It speaks to the part of club culture that values immersion over intensity. It ties into the broader resurgence of dub techno in 2025, as artists revisit older influences while seeking new space in the genre. Watkins sits naturally inside that moment but still brings his own perspective.
‘Pale Light’ feels like a project made by someone who has lived with electronic music for a long time. You can hear the vinyl roots. You can listen to the residencies. You can hear the late-night studio sessions. It is grounded in craft but unafraid to drift into something more cosmic.
A strong and quietly distinctive record from a producer who knows exactly where his sound belongs.
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