Establishing the mood with a pulsating bassline and cerebral glitch tones with a rising sense of drama and sound design intricacies, Leyla Romanova opens The One Uncoded with dimensionality before an analogue ringing telephone trips us into another universe.
The haunting nature of the composition comes to life, drawing us deeper with a stunning strings accompaniment and atmospheric vocal ad libs from Baku-based singer Elnarə Xəlilova with an almost ancient, Eastern nuance. Mid-way through the track, Leyla Romanova recites the French lyrics, “Tu es toujours dans un rêve…”, which means “you are still in a dream”, followed by the English message: “You’ve been sleeping all this time, wake up, come with me, I will show you the real world…”, after a beeping alarm.
The piece builds with cinematic drama and subversion before a meditative piano moment, inviting us into a realm of peace and tranquility before a charming, analogue finale with an accordion performance and an eventual loop back into the original pulsing bass, manifesting a full circle moment.
Speaking on the inspiration behind the release, Leyla Romanova confesses, “The One Uncoded is a deeply personal track. I was eleven when I first watched The Matrix – and my world turned upside down. I realized nothing was impossible – that boundaries existed only in the mind. And indeed, throughout my childhood and youth, I kept erasing them… until 2012 came – a single event knocked me off course, made me stop believing in myself. I kept living, but as if on autopilot – half-asleep, shrouded in a thick veil of normality.”
The consciously astute artiste continues, “Then, just recently, it was as if someone shook me awake with the words: “What the hell took you so long?..” That same evening, I felt drawn to rewatch The Matrix 4 – and déjà vu struck – there it was, the exact same dialogue. It’s surreal, of course, to feel such a connection to characters and events of a fictional film… But the most important thing is that I finally felt alive again – and I wrote this track.”
We love what Leyla Romanova has created with The One Uncoded and the eye-opening universe she has brought to life with the composition. It would be the perfect fit for a future remake or sequel of The Matrix, so let’s hope that The Wachowskis hear this! We have added The One Uncoded to our New Music Spotlight playlist, and our TRIPPY playlist!