Walter the Producer ventures into abrasive territory on big new single ‘PAMPLEMOUSSE’!

Boston-based enigma, Walter the Producer, returns with ‘PAMPLEMOUSSE’, a fittingly well-produced slice of Alt-Pop.

Precisely constructed around a simple, but effective, chord progression, the track continues to develop his previously established sound, with the hooky guitar riff, hefty drumbeat and funk-adjacent bass last being heard on his 2023 single, ‘THEY TOOK THE NIGHT’.

‘PAMPLEMOUSSE’, though, whilst baring a very much recognisable sonic palette, has an ever so slightly more abrasive sound than the usual Walter the Producer track.

Where previous releases have tiptoed around the idea of eschewing the glossy, smooth production Walter has become synonymous with, mainly through his burying of strange, foley-esque sounds within the mix of tracks on his debut album ‘NO SUBSTANCE MIXTAPE’, ‘PAMPLEMOUSSE’ begins to venture into this territory, albeit subtly.

Opening with the constant clatter of the aforementioned, quite biting, drumbeat, the track steadily unfurls throughout its less-than three-minutes run time, additional instruments being layered on top of one other until the songs climax, an early-days Tame Impala style synth solo.

As ‘PAMPLEMOUSSE’ reaches that climax however, the lines between each of the layers become subtly blurrier, and, whilst by no means being an overwhelming listen, when combined with the ambiguous emotional heft of the track’s lyrical content and its screechy synth solo, the song teeters on the edge of abrasiveness.

It’s an interesting direction for the cult-favourite, one that suits him very much.