Porter Robinson is an extremely talented American DJ and producer whose eclectic music combines influences from Japanese anime, video games and all over the place. Like all great musicians, he has a clear knack for melody and the ability to summon heart-rending progressions, injecting a surprising degree of emotional impact, nostalgia and euphoria into his music. His intelligence and his artistry is obvious both in his music and in his interviews. I would add that he may also have some sort of astrological awareness which seems to be present in his newest works, particularly around the classical elements.
For any non-astrologers reading this, you’ll need to understand that each sign of the zodiac has associations with the four classical elements of fire, earth, air and water. The fire signs are more dynamic, impulsive and passionate, the earth signs are more material, solid and practical, the air signs are more cerebral, fluid and diffuse, and the water signs are deep, profound and soulful.
- Fire signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
- Earth signs: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn
- Air signs: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius
- Water signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces
Traditional astrological significations of Venus surround beauty, harmony, social relations and the creative arts, that which is beloved and sacred. In theory, the transits of Venus should correspond to important and beloved works of art. Whatever sign Venus is in, including its element, should be able to describe something about the intrinsic qualities of works of art that are produced or released in that time.
Additionally, Venus’s relationships to other planets can color its nature. For example, with Venus conjunct Saturn we might expect music which is more melancholic, or conjunct Jupiter we might expect music which is more joyful or epic. Usually these connections can be poetic or without a 1:1 correspondence, but Porter Robinson’s latest singles for his forthcoming album Nurture seem to take this phenomenon to a more literal and possibly intentional degree.
Water – “Get Your Wish”
Robinson released “Get Your Wish” on January 29th 2020, the first single from the Nurture album. It’s an inspirational and addictive reflection on the challenges of success for the creative process (“So tell me how it felt when you walked on water/Did you get your wish?”) and wonders about the motivation to continue creating (“The work that stirred your soul/You can make for someone else”). The line about walking on water seems to have inspired this water-themed music video, or was it something else entirely?
On January 29th 2020, Venus was appropriately conjunct Neptune (mythological god of the ocean) in the watery sign of Pisces. Neptune is also a planet of fantasy and mystery, illusion and disillusion. This is incredibly appropriate given the watery imagery of its video and the way the song grapples with remaining creatively inspired in the wake of the emptiness of success. Venus also happens to be in one of its best signs in Pisces, the sign of its exaltation. This is probably just a case of astrology accurately describing the nature of the art released in this time. But then…
Earth – “Something Comforting”
Robinson released “Something Comforting” on March 10th 2020, the second single from the Nurture album. The music video has a similar format to “Get Your Wish”, depicting a pastoral forest-y scene instead of a watery one. We see Porter Robinson lying in the grass, planting seeds, hands in the dirt…if “Get Your Wish” was about water, “Something Comforting” is clearly about earth.
The song’s lyrics speak to a dilemma that only the virtues of earth can remedy: being satisfied with what you have. (“…getting made you want more/And hoping made you hurt more/Someone tell me/Something comforting”) On the day Robinson released this song, Venus was conjunct Uranus in the earthy sign of Taurus. Uranus is the planet of radicality, unboundedness and chaos. Venus’s conjunction to Uranus could be seen as the desire to comfort insatiability, to satisfy an unquenchable hunger for more and more. Taurus also happens to be one of Venus’s best signs.
So it seems Robinson consciously modeled the videos for these songs after the element of water and earth and just happened to release them when Venus was in water and earth signs, configured with an outer planet. If this was correct, then the next song would have to be airy in some respect since Venus would be in Gemini next. Sure enough…
Air – “Look at the Sky”
Robinson debuted his air-themed song “Look at the Sky” during his first-ever virtual music festival Secret Sky on May 9th 2020 when Venus was in the airy sign of Gemini square Neptune. This accounts for the surreal nature of the whole event bringing artists together from different locations (the air element is diffuse, right?), but it still fits the more personal pattern of Porter Robinson’s single releases from Nurture. Look at the Sky is an incredibly catchy song of self-encouragement (“Look at the sky, I’m still here/I’ll be alive next year/I can make something good/Something good”) The song was presented with its lyrics, which themselves contain quotations, which is kind of funny since Gemini is a sign ruled by the planet of language, Mercury.
So we have a water single, an earth single, an air single, so naturally the last one will be…
Fire – ???
Based on this pattern, Porter Robinson’s next single should be, well, fire. The next time Venus will be in a fire sign is when Venus enters Leo on September 6th 2020. Since Venus was conjunct Neptune for “Get Your Wish”, and square Neptune for “Look at the Sky”, then it stands to reason that because Venus was conjunct Uranus for “Something Comforting”, Venus would be square Uranus for the unannounced “Fire” song, which would place the release date closer to September 15th 2020.
This makes sense for two reasons:
- Robinson was born when Venus was at 0 Leo, and the release of his album Worlds also took place when Venus was at 0 Leo (also at a Venus-Jupiter conjunction in Leo!). So it would make sense if a final single or even the release of the album would take place while Venus has returned to the sign of his natal Venus, a fire sign. After all, this is a musician whose first EP was even called “Spitfire”.
- An interesting theory on Reddit is based on the fact that the cutoff date for Grammy nominations is August 31st 2020. If Robinson delayed releasing his album until September 2020, he would not be in direct competition with his friend/musical collaborator/rival Madeon (another amazing musician who released his new album Good Faith in November 2019 at a Venus-Jupiter conjunction in Sagittarius) and they would both stand a chance to win their own Grammys.
So perhaps it’s strategic, perhaps it’s just random or…perhaps he is using a little astrology in the timing of his releases in keeping with the elemental themes of his new music. But why would these releases be tying Venus to Uranus and Neptune in particular you might ask. Well…would we really expect anything less from someone born at a Uranus-Neptune conjunction? I guess we’ll see. Here’s to new Porter Robinson music in mid-September 2020!