Ukiyo no Kiroku: Meltone
Ambient music is often associated with depression, loneliness, or negative moods. This is not always the case, as there is background music with a cheerful tone that is used to relax, study, and enjoy good moments. This type of music features a mix of subtle melodies that often use minor scales, highlighting the bass that complements the ambient music.
Melker Alexander Nilsson, better known as Meltone, is a producer of ambient, electronic, and lo-fi music. He is currently mainly focused on ambient music (which suits him wonderfully), but in his early years in the music industry, his music focused on EDM, dubstep, future bass, among other electronic genres.
"Descender" and "Fragmentos"
At the end of 2018, he uploaded "Don't Go" (2/5) to streaming platforms, an electronic song that doesn't achieve a good structure, but, as a start to his musical career, speaks very well of him. In October of the following year, he uploaded "Gravity" (2.6/5), which, honestly, is better than "Don't Go," but even so, there is something that makes it sound the same as the aforementioned song: the voice, at certain moments, does not fit with the instrumental, and I think a more powerful bass would have been useful in the drop.
I've already critiqued a lot. By September 2020, I would upload “Descend” (3.5/5), an EP consisting of 4 singles, the most notable being “Stuck in Time” (4/5), which I liked a lot; it shows great progress in terms of electronic music skills. Josi is a singer who does a good job with the tone of her voice, blending very well with the instrumental; “Like I Should” (3.5/5) also stands out, starting off well and also showing Meltone's potential in making future bass tracks. The last single from the EP, “Let Go” (2.7/5), seems like it tried to use the same formula as the previous singles, which didn't help much.
In 2021, "Meant To Be" (3.4/5) would be released, a single completely different from what had been heard from this artist. Although the vocalist blended well with the song, the problem with this one, as with several of the previous singles, was the misuse of the SuperSaw synthesizer. For those who don't know what it was, it's a synthesizer from 1996 that became very popular in trance music due to its huge and exaggerated sound. The special sound comes from multiple detuned sawtooth waveforms. Now, the problem wasn't that it was misused per se, since in songs like "Stuck in Time" and "Like I Should" the synthesizer worked very well; the issue was the excessive and monotonous use in almost all the early singles. If you listen to "Gravity" followed by "Let Go," "Out of Control" (2.8/5) (its acoustic version isn't bad), and finally "With Me" (2.6/5), there won't be many changes in the release. I also went through that, and even worse, but anyway, Meltone is an extraordinary artist, because starting in 2022 things were going to get much better.
On July 8, 2022, they would release “Fragments” (4.5/5), their second EP that truly surpasses “Descend.” Of course, their themes were completely different, but “Fragments” had an extremely distinct approach. The EP starts with “Presence” (5/5), a single that only shows us feelings through its melody. Honestly, I really enjoyed listening to it, and you can see the change that Meltone was going to make in the future. Then comes “Because of You” (4.5/5); again, Josi does a good job with her voice. You can hear how it flows freely through the instrumental, and the beats and the harmony she expresses in the single are excellent. “All Over Now” (4/5) and “When Everything Falls Apart” (4.7/5) also stand out, especially the latter, as it demonstrates a farewell, but Alava gives a new beginning to Meltone’s career as background music artists.
Dark environment
For the following and, up to today, Meltone would begin to release several songs, of course, mainly standing out with his ambient music singles. “A Better Place” (4.2/5), one that caught my attention, stood out more than its predecessors; the structure of the music combines excellently with the bass, giving it that melancholic touch. Now, Meltone also showed us that he could make good Lo-Fi music, having a Christmas track “Colder Than Ever” (5/5) — I loved listening to it, the melody is so pleasant and it cheered me up, it’s very relaxing and the vibe is great. But that’s not all, starting in 2024, he would upload “December Evening” (4.5/5), a Lo-Fi song that also has an ambient music version (3.8/5); there you can clearly notice a difference in how a Lo-Fi track and an ambient one sound. It’s worth noting that this varies depending on the artist, but anyway.
Weeks later, Meltone, together with Jara, another musical artist, released "Yesteryear" (3.9/5), a single that stands out mainly for its excellent melodic notes. Returning to dark ambient music, from my critical perspective, there is a lot of music by this artist that stands out for its meaningful melodies, representing this musical subgenre in an ambitious way. In a series of surveys, I asked Meltone what led him to move from making electronic music to creating ambient melodies. He responded as follows.
I have always liked the ambient parts in music, for example, the great soundscapes in bass or piano arrangements of EDM songs. Then I realized that there was a completely different genre for that type of music and I began to explore ambient. The album "Secret Life" by Fred, again... and Brian Eno was also a great inspiration to start creating ambient.
Meltone is an example that it is better to do what we like the most. After trying several subgenres of electronic music, he managed to find his best musical style.
It was never intended to be that way
On June 7 of this year, in collaboration with "your home," another ambient music artist, they released "It was never wanted to be" (4.4/5) on streaming platforms, an album consisting of 7 songs that stand out. Mainly, a guitar melody that flows excellently throughout the album. Starting moderately but with a good ending, as mentioned earlier, his guitar is the special touch, with Widx as guests. And for Coffee Stain, teamwork is represented in this album; clearly, there are some singles that have their issues but only affect them minimally. The songs that stand out the most are "Noche lluviosa" (5/5), "Sentimiento familiar" (5/5), and "Watching the stars together" (4.5/5).Making that album was an incredible experience. We were constantly talking on Discord and coming up with new ideas every day. We also decided to collaborate with different guitarists to give our dark ambient a fresh and more organic feel. We are both very happy with the album.
Meltone has a great future as an ambient music artist, and I hope so. One of the questions I asked was: What advice would you give to an artist who is just starting out? Responding with the following.
Create what you want to make. You can only create authentic music if it comes from yourself. Don’t try to meet other people’s expectations with your music.
If you stayed until the end, let me know your opinion in the comments box, don’t forget to follow me on Instagram and subscribe to my YouTube channel.