Stream / Download:  munro – ‘About You’

The excellent musical expedition of ‘About You’ cascades delightfully in a playful but impressive mixture of vibrant electronic oscillations, fiery electronic organs and the buoyant synthesiser. The single vibrancy bubbles up from the beginning until its rapturous end as the vocals capture its high pitches and ride it out subliminally. The electronics of different instruments used in the track chase each other continually and cyclically, simultaneously reaching higher notes. Subsequently, listeners are transported to a euphoric high drowned in octaves and Theremin’s eerie. 

Musician munro reflects on the vocalisation in ‘About You’ “There’s a really bold, assertiveness in the vocals that just floors me, and it really set the scene for the writing process. It doesn’t feel as hopelessly melancholic as, I guess I typically lean into, but it still maintains a level of, albeit, sobering sadness to it”.

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Brazilian electronic talents Slow Motion and Victor Lou have joined forces on new single “I’m Flying”, making its official release now  via Astralwerks.

“I’m Flying” is  Slow Motion’s sophomore appearance on Astralwerks, following his remix of Joyia’s record “Come Down”. Directly succeeding his remixes of “Forbidden” by dwson and “Naive” by Asha Gold, “I’m Flying” with Victor Lou is a marriage of atmospheric synths, slick vocal fragments and infectious tech house grooves, with all of the essential elements of an irresistibly refined club jam.

Paired alongside a thrilling music video, the visual depiction of “I’m Flying” sees Slow Motion and Victor Lou come face to face with trouble. After a heated discussion with a villainous character, Victor and Slow are kidnapped and thrust into a small plane.  In a battle for their lives the pair of collaborators escape, and jump out of a plane to freefall into safety, celebrating victory by flying kites.

Slow Motion otherwise known as Kaynã Reis’ love for music started at an early age being surrounded by many musical influences, from Rock n’ Roll to Hip-Hop. Cultivated a curated interest in electronic music, he’s worked tirelessly to build out his sonic identity as what we recognize today.

His big break came in 2016 when he released a remix collaboration of “Drinkee” by Sofi Tukker with Vintage Culture, a track that remains in heavy rotation and has been streamed millions of times across the world.  He then released his world-conquering remix alongside Vintage Culture of Jorja Smith and Maverick Sabre’s hit “Slow Down” last year. The track has amassed over 153 million Spotify streams, reached #1 on the Beatport Deep House chart and consistently charted on the Spotify Global Viral 50. 

Victor Lou burst onto the scene in 2014 with his signature single “Back”. This was followed by the likes of “Untitled”, “GHOUSE” and “Fé”, with the Brazilian DJ and producer earning a reputation as an eclectic yet seamless producer that now sees him collaborate with Slow Motion on this dynamic Astralwerks release.

Two of Brazil’s most in-demand dance musical talents, Slow Motion and Victor Lou combine their production proficiencies to deliver what is an uncategorically epic result.

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Maymind, the moniker of LA based musician / producer / DJ Leo Maymind, returns with a complex, deep groove left-field electronic gem ‘Left To My Own Devices’, lifted from his album ‘June’ out now.

‘Left To My Own Devices’ is a gorgeous and, at times, intelligent fusion of cinematic and widescreen sonics. With the album, Maymind has managed to perfectly balance understated undertones with soaring, uplifting production, and masterful sound design.

Leo explains: “There’s a story in ‘Left to My Own Devices,’ though like a lot of the best stories, I don’t think you need to understand exactly what the story is to understanding what the feeling is. In some ways it’s a love letter to both the canon of American electronic music and my younger self, giving that person a way forward, saying that all the struggles were worth it, to keep going. I think a lot of the journey of making June was trying to find this middle zone in between headphone listening and straight on club music.”

He goes on to add: “For ‘Left to My Own Devices’, I kept on resisting the urge to take the basic idea and turn it into a full on club track, but instead this version of the track (which is essentially how the first version of it was arranged) is what I stuck with. A friend described it as ‘super articulate, hyper produced’ which I feel like is an apt description for how I make music. While it’s still essentially loop based music, there’s an extreme precision to how each track is taking its own voyage.”

Born in Riga, Latvia when it was still under Soviet rule, raised in New Orleans and across the Midwest, a feeling of ‘otherness’ has always felt normal to Maymind. Leo recalls: “I never had a real ‘home’ growing up. My home was in my headphones. Seeing street performers play jazz in the New Orleans’ French Quarter left indelible marks on my young soul.”

A restless musical curiosity led Maymind to move to New York City after college in hopes of expanding his “band” Spanish Prisoners, a solo project that Maymind created in the hopes of collaboration. In 2015, after quietly switching modes and swapping his guitar for a sampler, Maymind resurfaced on Adam Marshall’s steely New Kanada label with a three-track EP of Detroit-flavored techno that crammed bright details into its every corner.

In 2016, a move to Los Angeles signaled another change in approach for Maymind, when a computer crash forced him to limit his gear to a small tabletop hardware setup. The result was Maymind’s first full-length album ‘Illumina’ (Umor Rex, 2017), which blended flanged, wiry drums with thick ambient pads and malleable synth trills; drawing praise and radio play from WFMU, the Wire, Red Bull Radio, and more.

Maymind‘s 2018 album ‘Cheap Storage’ on Atlantic Rhythms was described by PITCHFORK as ‘sharp and focused’ with ‘gratifying soundscapes that are easy to sink into’. The multifaceted artist continues his foray forward in the form of ‘June’, a complex, fascinating body of work out now. Leo says: “These songs subtly point to all the things I’ve loved at various points of my life- R&B, house, disco, sample-based electronic music, spiritual jazz and much more. To me, this album just feels like a complete sentence- something I’ve been trying to say for years but didn’t quite have the vocabulary at the time.”

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Rising electronic producer DEFSET has released his debut album ‘Proximity’ via EMK – the new electronic music platform launched by Kartel Music Group on October 29 .

The album follows the release of a string of singles, ‘Deadlines’, ‘Shira 2’ and ‘Bathtime’ which have demonstrated DEFSET’s mastery in using modular synthesisers and outboard gear to create a pallet of evolving melodies over syncopated, glitched out rhythms, delivering a deeply accomplished sonic blend of immersive techno and atmospheric electronic music.

Inspired by DEFSET’s memories of the UK rave scene from the early 90s, ‘Proximity’, explains the producer; “it’s an homage to the incredible times I’ve had throughout the decades in the UK party scene. While making this album I rediscovered electronic music and rediscovered so many happy memories.”

Although new to the electronic music scene, DEFSET is the moniker of Leo Neelands, known for his work as VFX Supervisor and VFX compositor, creating visual effects on some of the biggest VFX movies of all times such as ‘Harry Potter’, ‘World War Z’, ‘Gravity’, ‘The Hobbit’, ‘Iron Man 3’ and ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’. “Music came first,” he explains, “I was making music in 1993, on an Atari ST with Cubase and a little drum machine. I was obsessed with making music, more than DJing, I have always been interested in the process behind creating the tracks.”

Written entirely in lockdown, DEFSET’s upcoming debut album ‘Proximity’, was mixed and mastered remotely by Tim Pennells (Floating Points, Nyx, Gazelle Twins, Tourist, Honne). Talking about the album creative process DEFESET says; “I started by buying some modular gear just before lockdown in an attempt to get back into creating stuff again, something I hadn’t done for about 5 years. I loved the hands on, computer free approach of modular synthesis. The lack of presets and the need to create every sound from scratch was hard to learn but completely liberating. I became obsessed with everything modular. If I wasn’t twiddling knobs I was watching YouTube tutorials or reading books and forums about it.”

Through the album DEFSET experiments with field recordings, modular synths, live drums and hardware analogue synths, creating every sound from scratch. The producer’s analog and modular approach to electronic music results in lush, energetic and enigmatic textural sounds.

Opening track ‘Islands’ sets the tone of the entire album, DEFSET’s use of modular drums and FM synthesis through Mutable Instruments’ Clouds granular audio processor, proving the producer’s ability to create music to affect mood through sound. Second track ‘Present’ is a powerful evolving melody built using the Arturia Modular V Moog emulator and heavily edited beats. In ‘Shira2’ field recordings captured during a trip to Mt. Kilimanjaro dance over a shuffling backbeat. ‘Bathtime’ shows DEFSET’s versatility as a musician – built around a sample of an acapella of legendary Jamaican reggae group Black Uruhu – the unique piece of slo-mo dub-techno features a section the producer wrote when drumming for a ska/reggae band with live bass and instrumentation. While ‘HoneySwede’ is a tough and atmospheric cut channelling 90s breaks.

“The electronic dance music movement and the acid house movement are hugely important in music and youth culture and I was lucky to be around at the right time. I can’t help but be affected by those times and my music will always have one foot in a muddy field at 4am,” he enthuses.

Follow DefSet:

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Following on from his ‘Room’ single, which was released earlier this year, upcoming chill house artist, MÜNE drops ‘Back To Old Me’ via with Ultra Music.MÜNE is the first Indian artist to ever sign with renowned dance label, Ultra Music. Having grown up in poverty in the middle of Madya Pradesh, MÜNE’s career began miles from his home in an internet cafe and he’s not looked back since.

The global pandemic threw a spanner in the works for artists around the world in multiple ways. But speaking on this MÜNE’s attitude is admirable – “I always believe in everything happens for a reason even if it’s bad you should always find good things in that same goes with pandemic many lost jobs and lives in this but we have to move on life moves on and so we do trust god and go with the flow of the universe nothing is permanent in this world even bad things too”.

With countless hours spent perfecting his craft in his bedroom on an old Pentium computer, MÜNE puts a unique spin on electronic music, which has begun to prick the ears of the Western circuit. Taking strong inspiration from the late house legend, Avicii, MÜNE partners his skill with themes of mental health and the beauty of being able to express your feelings through music. He said:

“It doesn’t matter where you came from or if you don’t have the equipment, if you are true to yourself and dedicated towards your dreams, you will figure it out how to make things work from what you have.”

Years on from his humble days in the internet cafe, today MÜNE has seen support from the likes of Rolling Stone, MTV, Diplo’s Revolution (Sirius XM), Austin Kramer (One World Radio) and BBC Radio 1. Now heading into the back end of Summer 2021, MÜNE drops ‘Back To Old Me’ – a dreamy chill house instrumental composition destined for airwaves and playlists alike. In relation to the single, MÜNE mentions –

“Back to old me” is about finding closure from a 2-year depressive phase of my life, it is about going to my old self – the balanced and happy version of me and telling those emotions through this track. It also refers to going back to my old signature style”. It’s a chill emotional track, which will take you to a journey that starts with emotional flow and reaches an upbeat energetic flow.

MÜNE – ‘Back To Old Me’ is out now via ULTRA Music 

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