Some tunes are songs, and some are digital detonations. Anti Lag's latest single, "Michael Bichael," is firmly in the latter camp, a glitched-out grenade lobbed into the club without concern for volume restrictions or genre binding.
"Michael Bichael" doesn't level up Anti Lag's already bonkers sound so much as rework the rulebook. That's how Anti Lag, once known for shooting out of the chiptune trenches with the joystick fury of a post-synth heartthrob, gradually grew into a beast of its grime-driven invention. This track is the next step in that insurgence. It's gritty, exhilarating, and laced with wild genius.
The household moniker "Michael Bichael" may call to mind a viral meme gone rogue, and that is precisely the point. At the song's outset, some tongue-in-cheek vocal chops suggest absurdity before slamming on the gas with a contorted, Sega Genesis-sounding synth line that feels like a Sega Genesis screamed into a subwoofer. Don't let the fun and games jest you all. The glitch gloss and clanking welds are by a heart-racing arrangement done up properly for late-night warehouse warfare.
"Michael Bichael" is a boss battle that never ends. The beat drops and arpeggiated carnage that underpin his music create a filmic sense of anticipation. This eeriness refers to the retro-futuristic aesthetic that powers his legendary Anti-Lag live shows. As the bass line comes down, you can almost smell the fog machines and taste the energy drink.