"Placid Acid" is the first track from Brighton producer Will Phillips' new alias, Tourist. Though he works with fat snares and other hallmarks of dance music, Phillips is secretly making straightforward pop, employing a forceful instrumental style similar to artists like Unicorn Kid and Pinemarten, who often bypass vocals altogether off the strength of their slip-and-slide driving melodies. Going vocal-less keeps things delightfully ambiguous: without prescriptive lyrics going on about bong rips or first dates or whatever Phillips was imagining here, instead you can imagine a song about skipping work to wear frog goggles and ride indoor water slides. Or whatever! Tourist's debut EP comes out March 12th via Make Mine.
Stream: Tourist, "Placid Acid"