Like the beginning of a Mexican-Western film, Ariel by Stateless plays seductively into ones ears as the big kicks and crunchy snaps take control of the tone to transcend one into a trippy fun house of sounds and celestial dance-floor where an epic dance of sorts is about to take place. The song has a classic lyric feel that’s just as eclectic as the sounds involved in the entire production. West African guitars alongside Spanish style rifts, Rock & Roll vocals, a la Poltergeist interferences and matrix glitches splashed with a dub-step bass that’s simply badass!
Explained by Stateless as:
the song is the eternal struggle within all of us, the battle between good and bad, imagined here as a fight between the protagonist, the titular Ariel, and the Devil.”
It makes sense as to why the smooth vocals and lyrics act like the complete opposite of the more aggressive sounds found on this tune, yet really don’t make any complete sense meshed together other than this Tango between Ariel and the Devil. Staring at it from a spectators perspective, the dance is a Tango for life and death between a beautiful angelic like character and the dark one himself. Back and forth I picture the two smoothly fighting for control with each shift of the sounds on the song. One can clearly hear and feel when the devil takes the lead during their dance, and then as Ariel hypnotizes him Sucker Punch (2011 film) style with her sultry moves to take over. The battle continues throughout the song until ultimately it seems that the devil has enchanted Ariel as he drags her away and the music fades…
