With two massive releases on Monstercat, a single on Armin van Buuren‘s Armada, and now an appearance on the newest mau5trap compilation, I think it’s fair to say Notaker has had a big year. The synthwave producer’s career is blossoming beautifully, and we couldn’t be more excited.
Funny enough, Notaker cited deadmau5 as one of his biggest inspirations in my interview with him just under two months ago. Now – just a mere eight weeks later – Notaker is on his label’s yearly compilation, We Are Friends: Volume 6, with a good chance of coming back to mau5trap in the future.
When it comes to “Abyss,” we can definitely see why deadmau5 would want to pick it up. The track leans on 80s-influenced melodic structures that fueled much of Zimmerman’s latest full length, W:/2016ALBUM/. Per usual, Notaker flips these completely with his unique, minimal brand of synthwave. 
“Abyss” is much less luminous than most of his previous works, especially “Shimmer.” This darker sound is actually great in the context of the rest of compilation, which carries a mostly similar vibe throughout. Along with deadmau5′ insane ATTLAS collaboration, “Abyss” has to be one of the album’s biggest highlights, easily.
Listen to “Abyss” and buy the track below:
