Porter Robinson’s debut album ‘Worlds‘ has it all – traditional Porter-esque progressive house, melancholic vibes on tunes like ‘Sad Machine’, beautiful emotional computer-generated lyrics on ‘Goodbye To A World’, reverbed vocals on the stunning ‘Sea of Voices’ among many other aspects more appropriate to a full review. What I wasn’t expecting, however, was what hits us at the 2:35 mark of track #11 ‘Fellow Feeling’.

I’ve always been a sucker for in-your-face, way-too-sad-for-right-now violin and orchestral work, in particular via previous releases by producers like Max Cooper, but the sadness surrounding the first couple of minutes on this piece of magic blew me away. More appropriate to perhaps a funeral, the layers of piano, violin, bass and light percussion build to form one of the most beautiful soundscapes I’ve heard not only on the album, but in my time properly critiquing music. It’s depressingly elegant and mournfully superb, with the slow introduction of its stunning vocal work bringing not just the angle of ‘Fellow Feeling’ into perspective but also getting an extremely rare and unexpected insight into Porter Robinson’s true production ability. Glitchy techno, hard-hitting drums and complex pad work are all brought out by the yung producer, magnificently contrasting the first half of the track with what I truly did not expect from the record.

The lyrics are deep, they’re emotional and they are absolutely perfect for it. “I cried, for I didn’t think it could be true that you and I might have always known one another, and that we could not only evoke, but conjure a place of our own. And everywhere that has ever existed, is all on the surface of our dream. Now please, hear what I hear.”

And then Porter demands for us to let him explain that the ‘ugliness’, the ‘cruelty’ and the ‘repulsiveness’ will all die out, that he is crying for all that is beautiful. Thus, my friends, with its complexity and professionalism way too far above the rest to be compared, this is why ‘Fellow Feeling’ is by far the best song on the album.

Grab ‘Worlds’ on iTunes now.