Atlantic Connection

REGGAEEDM ANALYSIS

Reggae Roots

• Rhythm: Atlantic Connection occasionally integrates offbeat syncopation, echoing reggae or dub subdivisions beneath faster drum & bass breakbeats, thereby creating a hybrid rhythmic feel.

• Bass: He utilizes deep sub-bass foundations reminiscent of reggae’s heavy roots lines, but adapted to the faster tempos of drum & bass, often with warm filtering or modulation to emulate dub bass movement.

• Vocals/Message: While much of his work is instrumental, guest vocalists and MCs appear in his catalogue (e.g. feature verses). His melodic and harmonic choices often evoke emotional tension, introspection, and connection, aligning with the conscious spirit found in roots reggae.

Electronic/EDM Techniques

• Sound Design / Texture layering: Hayes builds lush pads, atmospheric reverb layers, and textural ambient flourishes over rhythmic cores to create immersive soundscapes.

• Time-domain processing / delay & echo: He uses delay, echo, and feedback chains (in dub style) to sculpt rhythmic echoes around drums, giving tracks depth and space.

• Hybrid tempo fusion & dynamic transitions: Though grounded in drum & bass, Atlantic Connection sometimes experiments in the 140–160 bpm range, shifting between intensities. He also uses VIP mixes and alternate arrangements to recontextualize tracks in different subgenres (e.g. liquid, deep, minimal).

ESSENTIAL WORKS & WHAT TO LISTEN FOR

• “Around the Way” (2024) — illustrates his melodic sensibility paired with emotive production and crisp low end.

• Digital Landscape (album) — a strong mid-career statement where his fusion of ambient, bass, and textured rhythms coalesce.

• Alkaloids (2019) — darker and more experimental, exploring texture, weight, and abstraction.

• Love Architect (2012) — one of his earlier full-length works showcasing a foundation in melodic sensibility.

• Hoogshagenii EP (2025) — his latest EP demonstrating fresh directions and current artistic vision.

INFLUENCE ON REGGAEEDM

• Innovations: Atlantic Connection’s primary innovation is not that he fully adopts reggae, but that he infiltrates its atmospheres, aesthetic, and spaciousness into bass music and hybrid electronic genres. His melodic bass + ambient layering approach offers a bridge between ambient dub, soul, and drum & bass, a sonic space that ReggaeEDM artists can draw from for texture and emotional depth.

• Impact: While he may not be a household name in mainstream ReggaeEDM circles, within bass and underground electronic communities he is respected for subtlety, hybrid genre vision, and the emotional resonance of his tracks. His work inspires producers who seek to fuse soulful, dub-inflected textures into bass-forward frameworks.