Ali Umut Koca – so Alone
By Libby Driscoll
Born in 1991 in Istanbul, Koca emigrated to Germany in his teen years to study architecture. After studying at Frankfurt University, gaining a masters from Oxford Brookes and working as a construction manager, university tutor and architect, Koca has now decided to expand their talents into music production and composition.
Ali Umumt Koca – so Alone
Releasing his first single ‘Won’t Give Up’ earlier this year, the Turkish-German producer proceeded to release an additional three tracks, the latest of which is deep-house anthem ‘So Alone’, already receiving the no.1 spot in Spinnin’ Records talent pool chart.
Structurally, the track ebbs and flows in the way you’d expect a clubland anthem to do, however that is not to say the track falls victim to predictability. The atmosphere of ‘So Alone’ is undeniably unique.
The main riff is subtly played on the piano underneath sweeping soundscapes proceeding the opening verse. Like the majority of clubland tracks, the lyrics revolve around a few repeated lines that we’re introduced to from the first verse, “I'm sorry that you're messed up, but I don't seek revenge, I'm leaving with my head up, you know I can pretend”, followed with the hooked lines, “Had enough, I'm so alone. Had enough, no, no, no”. Typically, there’s an air of cheesiness or typicality that comes with house/dance music, but the character of ‘So Alone’ is seriously endearing. For me, I think it’s the balanced portrayal of sentiment still managing to radiate from the music despite it’s heavier compositional elements.
The music as a whole seems to shift at exactly the right points; Koca knows precisely what direction the music needs to travel in. Through the combination of hard-hitting dance beats, spacey vocals breaks, and electronica elements, each component of the song works together in a simply flawless fashion.
‘So Alone’ is a model deep-house track. It breaks through the boundaries of meaningless riffs and shallow compositions made for the sake of creating a song. The substance of the music is pristine, and offers the listener so much more than just a combination of melody.