Good to see you're not dead!
It's great to hear you try new things. The synths you're using sound different than usual! And your drums. There's definitely a lot more variation in them, and they're helping you drive the song a lot better. I've always liked tambourines. :P
1:00 - Over here, the filtered cymbals enter. They're a nice addition, but it felt like the hat that plays on the offbeats could be lowered in its velocity, so as to sound less mechanical. You're already doing a great job on that with your pianos! Try doing it for drums too.
1:14 - Over here, the filtered drum beat enters, but the cymbals that were playing for the last fourteen seconds disappear. Personally, I’ve always felt that a drum beat should grow until there’s sufficient musical variation for it to warrant a change. You brought the cymbals back into the beat at 1:28, but the beat felt a bit disconnected to me because of the missing cymbals at 1:14. Not sure if all people feel that way, though. I’ve always been a bit OCD about drums and tempo and stuff.
1:26 - I’ve never heard a fill consisting of just four rides before. :D
1:40 - It feels like your filter transitions (along with drum glitches, portamentos, etc.) have always been a signature part of your style. This one sounds nice as usual, but maybe you could’ve added a louder crash towards the end? Since the gong-like cymbal you used has a more gradual crash effect than most crashes, the sudden un-filtering was a bit jarring.
1:43 - The drum beat that plays here is basically the main beat of the song, and I like it a lot. The tambourine was a nice touch. One thing I think you could’ve done with it is played a few bars without the tambourine, then added it in later. It’s a pretty subtle touch, but it really helps the progression of a song in a way that most casual listeners won’t notice like they would a section or instrument change. At least, that’s what I’ve found.
2:12 - I know you know that transitions are really important, and I know you know the importance of making sure things flow. A small fill to end the section or at least a kick drum on beat 1 of the silent part would help the listener transition a lot better than just a cymbal roll.
2:38 - Great drum fill! There’s a pretty simple musical trope that I’m sure you know about, but you can always build up to some eighths/sixteenths in the fill.
3:12 - Love the drum fadeout. It fades gradually enough to be really smooth, but quickly enough to progress the song without much stagnation. The final drum hit is, I think, your best use of the crash in this song. As the drums were fading out, though, the piano sounded really prominent and I got slightly confused. :D
Remember, I’m not a musical expert by any means, but this is how I felt when listening to your drums, and I hope my feedback was helpful. Great work, and can’t wait to hear more!
(btw, you’ve got a 25-second period of silence at the end of your song)