"Musician" is a song by American record producer
Porter Robinson
Porter Weston Robinson (born July 15, 1992) is an American DJ, record producer, musician, and singer from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Robinson began producing music in his childhood. He signed to Skrillex's record label Owsla, OWSLA at the age o ...
. It is the fifth single from Robinson's second album ''
Nurture'', released on March 3, 2021.
Background and composition
In 2019, Robinson worked on an unreleased collaboration with British band
Kero Kero Bonito. Samples from the demo would later be used in "Musician".
Robinson stated in a tweet that he had a rule for ''
Nurture'', which was "no supersaws
no 808 subs
no classic breakbeats", but he decided to "have fun" with "Musician".
In a press release, Robinson stated that "Musician" was one of the very last songs written for ''Nurture''.
Reception
''
Pitchfork''s Colin Joyce said that, on the song, Robinson "mulls the difficulty of making art during tough times, flickering between despair and reassurance", by singing: "I just can't stop, I'm sorry / I can feel a new day dawning." ''Magnetic Mag''s Ryan Middleton stated that the "semi autobiographical track" describes "a eureka moment of finding inspiration."
Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...
writer Sose Fuamoli said: "It's here where we can hear him turn that corner and find the love in music that had been missing. The music swells and revels in being uplifting, which makes sense - it’s one of the songs closest to Robinson even today." Sebastian Flores Chong of ''EDMTunes'' declared that "Musician" is "an amazing song" with unique and distinct elements, while still resembling Porter Robinson's music style.
''
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
'' writer Chris Conaton describes "Musician" as "full electropop, with a host of synths, samples, and other electronic sounds providing the music", and further describes it as "a joyous-sounding pop track that sounds like a celebration without becoming cloying."
Accolades
"Musician" was ranked at seventy-fourth place on
NPR's annual list of best songs and placed on their list of best electronic songs of the year.
Music video
The music video for "Musician" was released on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
on March 18, 2021. It was directed by Waboku and Mah and animated by Dokai Asuka, rui, Ono Hokuto, Oyama Aiko, Sakai Hiroshi, Nishimura Fukutaro and Ryoko K. (Shatter). It has anime influences,
similarly to "Shelter" and showing Robinson's "love for Japanese culture and the style of anime", according to ''We Rave You''s Ellie Mullins. The video is about a boy looking to pursue his passion for music at the risk of being outcast from society.
Charts
References
External links
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2021 singles
2021 songs
Porter Robinson songs
Mom + Pop Music singles
Song recordings produced by Porter Robinson
Songs written by Porter Robinson
Electropop songs