It cannot be denied that much is to be lost if SoundCloud does indeed go under; if anything, a service where artists could document their growth through sketches and snippets, unfinished bits and ideas, and scrape a few followers along the way.

Within the looming walls of Chicago, dark sonics brew in the heart of Ell!psis, a now well-held pseudonym of DJ, producer, and fencer Jake Doan. Finding comradery and mentorship as a player in a key Chicago electronic group, the Ionic Collective, Ell!psis has grown his technical abilities to an incredibly sharpened degree.

This is seen in the producer’s latest effort, a work carefully laden with chiming synths and sword swings, smoothly sieved RnB vocals and one of his most heartily-constructed bass orchestrations to date. Initiated with unsure fluting, the song quickly finds its identity within a darkened club palette, something that sounds both clean and jagged – beautiful and yet, in its stinging precision, nightmarish. In a display of raw song structure, the tune doesn’t waste time and still manages to pull off a few surprises.

Initiated with unsure fluting, the song pretty quickly finds its identity within a darkened club palette, resulting in something that sounds both clean and jagged – beautiful and yet, in its stinging precision, nightmarish. In terms of song structure, the tune doesn’t waste time and still manages to pull off a few surprises amidst its raw landscape.

When one considers the craft to reach this point, it becomes clear that Ell!psis is more than just a casual SoundCloud DJ or producer. In defiance of the rumored sinking vessel, Ell!psis’ “insomnia” stands as a mark in a budding career that SoundCloud or no, a love of theory, technique, and learning can’t be replaced.

In short, while the future of SoundCloud may remain a mystery, the future of dedicated artists is anything but. For Ell!psis, we feel the Based God says it best in insomnia’s drop sample: “Let that boy cook.”