Dear Porter,
I’ve been a listener since fall of 2013, and back then I was someone who was going through his EDM phase. I was just another kid who enjoyed the bass drops and the different sounds each artist brought to the genre, and I found something so unique about your music. The glitches and the odd beats made for something that grabbed my attention like few artists did at the time. The more I kept exploring music, I kept realize just how special and unique your music at the time was in an increasingly cookie-cutter genre. I started to appreciate the ability to create angry, impactful beats that could wake me up in even my most sleep deprived states at the time. I saw the talent for creating vast soundscapes that felt so open, so liberating, so free. The music began to start teaching me that art can have an effect on you, and I didn’t even realize it yet. So the years went on and although I’d find many different genres I always found myself coming back to the charm of the music.
Then came Worlds. I remember being so excited to hear the newest single when it was released, 3 days before my birthday. I remember being so lost in the beauty that was this slow building song, but then at the end of it being so confused when I read Porter as the artist. “This isn’t Porter” I thought, but I didn’t realize that was my introduction to one of my most beloved albums of all time. I kept giving it more and more chances and I started feeling more of the charm with every single listen. What I didn’t realize thought was that this, in fact, was Porter Robinson. It was the same sense of a spacious, expanse of music that Language evoked in me the year before, and every single after that just got me more excited for this new album.
Finally, upon its release, I listened to the whole thing, end to end. Then I did it again. This pattern happened plenty over the course of the next two years, as it was my most listened to album two years in a row. I found such a comfort, such a sense of childlike enjoyment out of it in a way that I had few other albums. It’s diverse sounds and shifts in style really created something unique that felt like my own. Chills were the norm and that was something I cherish to this day.
Shelter only grew my love for Porter’s music more than ever. It brought together two of my favorite electronic music artists of all time into one great song, and eventually a great show that I got to go to.
Few artists have captivated me throughout their growth in expression, and have made music I can so consistently and profoundly connect to. I thank you more than this article can try to express.
Thank you Porter Robinson.
