Sometimes songs take a little while to worm their way into your mind, but just occasionally they hit you face on, and you instantly just feel them. Skyline is very much the latter — a song that basks in instant v.i.b.e.s., its wonderful synth chords hitting your gut with a beautiful sloppiness, as vocals playfully circle. The result is a sense of being transported somewhere warm and welcoming.
The instantaneous feeling of Skyline reflects its creation, which was organic and seemed to happen of its own accord. The song started as a collaboration between French producer Vantage and Australian artist Billy Otto, with the core melody established in a Tokyo studio. The song then evolved in Switzerland, with Kabrio taking over production duties, giving the song its sense of warmth and movement. Production duo Kabrio are made up of Patrick (formerly known as Aerotiqué) and Peter, who, inspired by 80s disco, house and electronic music, started working together in 2019. Otto then proceeded to contribute additional components whilst travelling the world, between shows and time in the studio. The result is the tropical feeling track we get here.
The result is just the kind of gorgeously breathless electronic music I can’t resist. It’s beach cocktails, poolside afternoons, and nights spent watching the sunset. The layered vocals give the whole piece a lovely dreamlike quality, and the spoken bridge creates a heady dose of nostalgia. My only criticism is of its brevity. Skyline leaves us, after an all too brief two-minutes-and-forty-five seconds, wishing the night could go on.
