Yotto Breaks Down His 13-Track Debut Album 'Hyperfall': Exclusive

9/7/2018 by Kat Bein

Tuukka Ervasti
Yotto

In 2014, Finnish DJ and producer Yotto released "Seven Mountains," his first official original track. His next single "Azzurro" came out on Anjunadeep, kick-starting a long-running relationship that led him to this moment in 2018. Today, he celebrates the release of his first studio album on that very same label, but Hyperfall is as much about his past as it is his present and future.

The album moves between feelings in dexterous waves. One moment, it's a shadowy room, and the next, the lights have been set to soft disco. Sometimes its melodic, Sometimes it's groovy. It's even got some IDM moments. Interestingly enough, the inspiration behind these emotional moments is often quite humorous. It's got a lot of cool samples and personal history steeped into its 13 tracks, and we caught up with Yotto to get the inspiration behind each tune.

"Hyperfall"

This is the intro to the album. It’s a cinematic moment and highly dramatic. Imagine the speed that a glass bottle of milk has when you drop it. It’s over in the blink of an eye, but you see it happening in slow motion, even though it happens really, really fast. That moment is "Hyperfall," and this song is the soundtrack to those surreal moments of helpless distress and of sublime helplessness. 

"The One You Left Behind" Feat. Vök

I made this straightforward, melodic club instrumental in a hotel last year and always felt like it was missing something. I’m a big fan of the Icelandic band Vök and their singer Margrét provided the last piece of the puzzle with her vocals. This one is fueled with a lot of northern tristesse. I also forget a lot of items on airplanes, so to all those chargers and iPad’s – I’m so sorry I left you behind. I'll never forget you. 

"Kantsu"

This is an ode to the Finnish suburb where I grew up. Back then, Kantsu (Kannelmäki) was a gritty, slightly offensive (if you were to visit the train station during the wrong hours) neighborhood. This track flows with the same energy and mood as the trains rolling by on a concrete bridge. It’s probably my favorite club cut from the album.


"Nada C"

This one is very far from what people are used to hearing from me. Weirdly enough, I started this track in my bedroom in 2004, likely wearing boxers and trying to avoid household duties. I found it some time ago, and it strangely connected me to that period of time. I had to finish it. It starts very heady and pensive, then arrives at this sort of angelic finale. The choir sound is actually a bunch of tweaked and hyper-edited samples of my high school choir. It felt like a great addition to an album for all these reasons. 

"Turn It Around"

Okay, back to the dance floor. It might seem like a very serious, dark, club tune, but the refrain "turn it around again / if we reach the end” is actually about how you need to focus to flip your crepes at the perfect moment. The time making crepes should not be spent writing letters, or you will have to start again.

"Epilogue" Feat. CAPS

This is the slowest, smoothest moment on the album. It flows like the river of tears I just had while watching Mean Girls. What the fuck happened to Lindsay Lohan? The mood here breaks the album and gives some time to breathe and contemplate. I contemplate a lot, and so does my brother Oula, who provides the vocals here. He’s on about something beautiful and living in make-believe. I don’t know, ask him.

"Outsight"

Continuing on the mid-album path of soothing music for your naked spa sessions or whatever, “Outsight” is something I really enjoyed writing. I’m a massive fan of simple, slow-moving piano sequences from composers like Thomas Newman and Daniel Licht. I wanted to combine that emotional content with a fat-ass low end and some synths that make you bust a move.

"Odd One Out"

Possibly my personal favorite track from the album, but I have really, absurdly bad taste, so who knows. It’s a song that, for me, reaches the uplifting melancholy of being a stray dog in a pack of wolves. That is how I have always felt, being the weirdo slightly on the left side of the room, not necessarily trying to fit in. So, to all the odd ones out, salute!

"Hyperlude"

Remember the summer of 2008? When you were young, running in slow motion in the middle of a field, wind blowing through your hair, the sun flaring from the camera lens, your loved one running next to you, not a worry in the world? Me neither, my brain is fried - but this is two minutes of just that. 

"Radiate"

At this point, I like to say that we are entering the third, final part of the album, because it makes me seem like a person who planned each minute of this album perfectly. “Radiate” is a big performer in my DJ sets, like an asshole-y sports utility vehicle, but made less asshole by being an e-hybrid version. You know, all slick and smooth saying "hey, look at me," but still trying to be kinda woke and green. 


"Hear Me Out" Feat. Sønin & Laudic

I made this track with a couple of my good friends, Sønin and Laudic. We are just three genetically-gifted boys in the studio messing around, having fun with synths like nerds like us do. That is why I find it a bit confusing that the results were such a moody, dramatic vocal track. I like it a lot though.

"Walls"

I love staring at walls. I have said that before, and I stand behind that statement. When I was a kid, a teacher told me she would like to know what’s going on behind my empty eyes staring at the wall. I WAS THINKING. This track however is a 100% joyful moment to contrast the serious me. It’s an energy drink made entirely of Skittles!

"Waiting Here"

Like me, everyone has been just waiting for the album to end. So this is the end. Waiting here, waiting here. The same loop is never over, but here it ends. I wanted the album to finish with a moment that goes all epic and celestial and then drops into … nothing.