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Virtual Self is an extended play (EP) by American electronic music producer Porter Robinson under the alias Virtual Self. The EP was released on November 29, 2017, as the first release on the eponymous record label Virtual Self. Virtual Self is a departure from the sounds of Robinson's debut album Worlds, in favor of a more techno sound inspired by late 90s-early 2000s dance music.

Background

After the release of his debut studio album Worlds in August 2014, Porter Robinson felt like he had discovered his identity, and that he could keep producing the album's indie-pop sound. However, he found himself unable to do that, stating that Worlds became something for him to resist. He started plotting the Virtual Self project in 2015. The next year, Robinson released "Shelter", a collab with Madeon; Robinson said that it "went really well" and, considering that Madeon "was making all of his new music that is unbelievably good", he decided to "compete with that", but going "in this complete other direction". In 2017, Robinson moved to London to work on the Virtual Self project.

Concept and composition

Porter Robinson described his music as his most "authentic and sincere soul," while Virtual Self is about "shattering his own habits, perhaps even his image". He said that Virtual Self could be seen as his "attempt at alienating people".

With the project, Porter Robinson "was experimenting with blending different styles of electronic music from around the years 1998 to 2003", including jungle, trance and gabber. He stated that the project was him on "peak obsessiveness"; retrospectively, he commented that this obsession made him do something he "shouldn't do", which was "spend a whole lot of time curating this project that had what I thought was very little commercial appeal". According to Robinson, he listened to "every song" from 1998 to 2003 on Beatport tagged as trance, breaks, jungle, drum and bass and techno; he stated he "listened to snippets of 100,000 songs over the course of two years." While he recognized many of it was "pretty uninspired and forgettable", he identified "trends of sound design and structure" that he could incorporate. With the help of The Wayback Machine, Robinson also spent three years revisiting forums and websites he frequented between 1999 and 2003, which helped him compose "a mood board of how Virtual Self should look and sound."

Robinson stated he had to research how to authentically recreate sounds from PC Music's "hyper-modern, complex productions", such as looking into early 2000s sample packs. However, he also stated that he didn't want Virtual Self to be "exclusively referential": "I was always trying to incorporate some kind of twist so it's an homage to a time period but somehow distorted." As such, while still using mostly early 2000s sounds, Robinson also tried to implement modern song structures. He said that Virtual Self is "not purely an homage", as he's not trying to recreate something specific but rather his memories and feelings surrounding them.

Virtual Self is represented by two characters created by Robinson, Pathselector and technic-Angel. The white-dressed, gold-masked Pathselector represents tracks "Ghost Voices" and "a.i.ngel (Become God)", while technic-Angel is a fair-skinned, dark-cloaked harbinger that represents EP tracks "Particle Arts", "Key" and "Eon Break". Pathselector's songs were described by Robinson as "neo-trance", being mid-tempo, "less hardcore-influenced and strictly trancey sounding", while technic-Angel's songs were described by him as "maximalist, 170 BPM, crazy hardcore, speedcore, jungle, and drum and bass".

Virtual Self's music videos and website contain cryptic messages and questions. Robinson stated that he didn't want to convey specific meaning but rather an "overall atmosphere". His techniques included translating sentences many times on Google Translate so he could use mistranslations as an inspiration, or a Markov chain. Robinson also cited influences from a design trope in year 2000 digital abstract art "where people would put tiny text everywhere — little floating sentences that are partially blurry and transparent. You feel like they're being whispered to you by a robot. A lot of these sentences were not meaningful, just atmospheric." Some of these "nonsensical sentences" were taken from "the sides of arcade game boxes" Robinson used to read in the early 200s.

Promotion and release

On October 25, 2017, Robinson released the EP's first single, "Eon Break", announcing his then-new alias Virtual Self via his Twitter page. A music video was also released on Robinson's YouTube channel, containing abstract three-dimensional art and cryptic messages seemingly focusing on the words "angel", "virtual", "void", and "utopia". Upon announcement, previews of the EP's tracks became available on a website announced by Virtual Self's Twitter page. The EP's second single, "Ghost Voices", was released on November 8, 2017. An accompanying music video for the track was released on February 28, 2018, via Robinson's YouTube channel. In January 2019, it was announced that "Ghost Voices" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording, marking Robinson's first nomination. In a statement to Billboard Dance, Robinson says he discovered the nomination through Twitter "of all places". At the time, he hadn't even realized "Ghost Voices" was submitted for consideration.

The EP was released on November 29, 2017. Virtual Self's first live performance debuted on December 8, 2017, in Brooklyn, New York. The show consisted of an elaborate light show and in tandem with Robinson playing a DJ set. The set included songs from the game Dance Dance Revolution as well as unreleased Virtual Self music and songs from the EP. Virtual Self shows continued in 2018, with a two-month North American "UTOPiA SySTEM" tour. Robinson also released "Angel Voices" on July 20, 2018, a happy-hardcore infused remix of "Ghost Voices".

Critical reception

Philip Sherburne from Pitchfork granted Virtual Self a 5.9/10 and describes the EP as an effort to "make a headlong plunge into an aesthetic rooted in the late 1990s and early 2000s" whose rhythms are "funkless" and "hyperactive", reminiscent of Dance Dance Revolution soundtracks. The critic then pegged "Ghost Voices" as the most contemporary sounding track of the EP and concluded by stating that "Virtual Self hones in on the most garish aspects of Robinson's influences, burning away any possibility of subtlety beneath a billion-watt gleam". Kat Bein of Billboard was positive of the EP, dubbing his alias as "high-concept musical nerdiness with a heavy Final Fantasy vibe" and that the whole record "plays like a killer soundtrack to the best mid-2000s RPG Nintendo forgot to release". DJ Times magazine's Brian Bonavoglia wrote that although the EP's sound was a large change of pace compared to his preceding Worlds album, Virtual Self still maintained all aspects of Robinson's "production brilliance".

Billboard staff chose "Ghost Voices" as the 32nd best dance/electronic song of 2017, with Kat Bein stating that it is "the dankest song on the five-track self-titled EP. Its classic house groove and futuristic touchest beckon you to the dark side of the dance floor and the web." In an interview with the same magazine published in February 2018, DJ Calvin Harris stated that the Virtual Self project, in particular track "Ghost Voices", "restored his love of dance music".

Track listing

Release history

Commercial performance

In the United States, Virtual Self sold 1,000 copies in its first week of release.

References

1. ^ Ochoa, John (February 15, 2018). "Porter Robinson: DJ Mag North America cover feature". DJ Mag. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
2. ^ Moen, Matt (August 24, 2021). "Let Porter Robinson 'Nurture' You". Paper. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
3. "Porter Robinson Announces Debut EP as Virtual Self". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
4. Stevo (2017-11-29). "Porter Robinson Releases His Debut Album As Virtual Self [LISTEN]". EDM Sauce. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
5. ^ "Porter Robinson's ambitious, human Virtual Self". The Fader. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
6. ^ Bein, Kat (2018-04-10). "Porter Robinson Talks Writing a 'Really Sincere Love Letter' to the Early 2000s With Virtual Self Project". Billboard. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
7. ^ ""I Don't Take That Lightly" Porter Robinson Interviewed". Clash. 2022-05-18. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
8. "Time To DDR: Porter Robinson Announces New Project Virtual Self With Single". magneticmag.com. October 25, 2017. Archived from the original on October 26, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
9. "Porter Robinson Unveils 'Virtual Self' Alias With Stomping, 'DDR'-Inspired Jam 'Eon Breaks'". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 29, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
10. "Virtual Self announces debut EP, shares song previews". www.dancingastronaut.com. 18 November 2017. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
11. "Porter Robinson Announces Virtual Self EP & Posts Track Previews". EDMTunes. 2017-11-17. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
12. "BREAKING: Porter Robinson Just Surprised Everyone With His Best New Song In Years". Your EDM. November 8, 2017. Archived from the original on November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
13. Erik (November 8, 2017). "Porter Robinson Drops His Second Track As Virtual Self And it Is Near Perfect". EDM Sauce. Archived from the original on November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
14. Bein, Kat (2018-02-28). "Porter Robinson Shares More About Virtual Self in 'Ghost Voices' Video: Watch". Billboard. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
15. Sunkel, Cameron (January 9, 2019). "Porter Robinson Speaks About Grammy Nomination for Virtual Self". EDM.com. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
16. "Porter Robinson Releases Incredible EP As VIRTUAL SELF". EDM Identity. 2017-11-29. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
17. "This Fan Recorded Virtual Self's Entire First Ever Show [MUST WATCH]". Your EDM. 2017-12-09. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
18. "Porter Robinson Goes Nu-Trance with Incredible Virtual Self Show". EDMTunes. 2017-12-09. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
19. "Porter Robinson Announces Virtual Self North American Utopia Tour: Watch". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
20. "Virtual Self Releases Technic-Angel Remix of 'Ghost Voices,' a.k.a. 'Angel Voices': Listen". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
21. ^ Sherburne, Philip (2018-01-03). "Virtual Self: Virtual Self EP Album Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 2018-01-03. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
22. Bein, Kat (2017-11-29). "Porter Robinson's EP as 'Virtual Self' Brings Bright And Dark Together In A Kaleidoscope of Fun: Listen". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2017-11-30. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
23. Bonavogli, Brian (2017-11-29). "Porter Robinson Releases Highly Anticipated "Virtual Self" EP". DJ Times. Archived from the original on 2018-02-05. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
24. "Billboard's 50 Best Dance/Electronic Songs of 2017: Critics' Picks". Billboard. 2017-12-15. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
25. Bein, Kat (2018-02-12). "Calvin Harris Says Porter Robinson Restored His Love of Dance Music". Billboard. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
26. ^ Murray, Gordon (December 7, 2017). "Billboard Dance Chart Upstarts: Lost Frequencies & Zonderling, Loud Luxury and Virtual Self". Billboard. Retrieved July 1, 2018.

• Porter Robinson albums
• 2017 EPs
• Eurodance EPs
• Trance EPs
• Speedcore albums
• Hardcore (electronic dance music genre) albums
• Rave albums