Search:about 2

Work on 'Fragile' began last August at the height of lockdown. Grill locked himself in the recording studio where he found himself experimenting with new sounds and technologies and was able to learn more about the techniques involved in mixing, production and arrangement. "The aim was to write a physical album maintaining an energy throughout and utilising sounds and structures I'm interested in. Using limitation was a big part of the process to push what I used as far as possible. Reading about Robin Guthrie's breakdown of Cocteau Twins minimal setups across different albums and how Prince distorted the Linn Drum Machine were also inspirations."

Musically, 'Fragile' is a more dance-centric record than 2020's 'Ride', with eleven blistering tracks aimed straight for the dancefloor. From the lush, pulsing synths and blistering beats of 'Another Time', to the hazy, sun-soaked 'Wildflower', Grill seeks to create dance music that is endlessly catchy and hugely uplifting. He draws heavily on a Euro-dance influence in his search for pop perfection with melody instrinsic to each track. The Italo disco sound of Giorgio Moroder is never too far away, climaxing with the pumping 'Crash' while the emotive dance of New Order is echoed in 'Wandering Sky' and 'Romance'.

From a visual perspective, 'Fragile' is inspired by gothic, renaissance art and architecture. The album artwork is a photograph Grill took on Château d'If, a fortress and former prison located on the Île d'If, the smallest island in the Frioul archipelago, a short distance from Marseille in southeastern France.

Norah Jones has been a steady voice of warmth and reassurance for nearly 20 years since her cozy 2002 debut album Come Away With Me became a familiar musical companion for millions of people around the world. Now the 9-time GRAMMY-winning singer, songwriter, and pianist has made her first-ever holiday album with I Dream Of Christmas, a delightful and comforting collection of timeless seasonal favorites and affecting new originals that explore the complicated emotions of our times and our hopes that this holiday season will be full of joy and togetherness. I Dream Of Christmas will be released October 15 on Blue Note Records and can be pre-ordered now on vinyl, CD, and digital download.

“I’ve always loved Christmas music but never had the inclination to make a holiday album until now,” Norah says. “Last year I found myself listening to James Brown’s Funky Christmas and Elvis’s Christmas Album on Sunday’s during lockdown for a sense of comfort. In January 2021, I started thinking about making a Christmas album of my own. It gave me something fun to work on and look forward to.”

The album’s opening track, Norah’s original “Christmas Calling (Jolly Jones)” is available to stream or download today. Over chiming piano chords, Norah expresses a deep desire for holiday cheer and companionship. “I wanna hear the music play / I wanna dance and laugh and sway / I wanna happy holiday for Christmas.”

“When I was trying to figure out which direction to take, the original songs started popping in my head,” Norah explains. “They were all about trying to find the joys of Christmas, catching that spark, that feeling of love and inclusion that I was longing for during the rest of the year. Then there are all the classics that have that special nostalgia that can hit you no matter who or where you are in life. It was hard to narrow down, but I picked favorite classics that I knew I could make my own.”

Among the album’s many pleasures are Norah’s playful reinvention of The Chipmunk’s “Christmas Don’t Be Late” by David Seville (aka Ross Bagdasarian), which is given a languid beat and swaggering horns. Other highlights include sublime versions of “White Christmas,” “Blue Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland,” and “Christmas Time Is Here.”

I Dream Of Christmas was produced by Leon Michels, and features an excellent cast of musicians including Brian Blade on drums, Tony Scherr and Nick Movshon on bass, Russ Pahl on pedal steel guitar, Marika Hughes on cello, Dave Guy on trumpet, Raymond Mason on trombone, and Michels on saxophone, flute, percussion, and more.

Norah Jones first emerged on the world stage with the February 2002 release of Come Away With Me, her self-described “moody little record” that introduced a singular new voice and grew into a global phenomenon, sweeping the 2003 GRAMMY Awards. Since then, Jones has become a nine-time GRAMMY-winner. She has sold 50 million albums and her songs have been streamed six billion times worldwide. She has released a series of critically acclaimed and commercially successful solo albums—Feels Like Home (2004), Not Too Late (2007), The Fall (2009), Little Broken Hearts (2012), Day Breaks (2016), Pick Me Up Off The Floor (2020), and her first-ever live album ‘Til We Meet Again (2021)—as well as albums with her collective bands The Little Willies, El Madmo, and Puss N Boots featuring Sasha Dobson and Catherine Popper who released their second LP Sister in 2020. The 2010 compilation …Featuring Norah Jones showcased her incredible versatility by collecting her collaborations with artists as diverse as Willie Nelson, Outkast, Herbie Hancock, and Foo Fighters. Since 2018 Jones has been releasing a series of singles including collaborations with artists and friends such as Mavis Staples, Jeff Tweedy, Thomas Bartlett, Tarriona Tank Ball, Rodrigo Amarante, and Brian Blade, some of which were compiled on the 2019 singles collection Begin Again.

VISION welcomes bass music producer and two times scratch world champion DJ Ride from Lisbon.

"For the last year I've been working really hard on my favorite project so far. ENRO is beats, hip hop, drum and bass, scratch and everything i want to say right now. A love letter for the dark and sweaty clubs we all miss so much. I produced, mixed and scratched it, and for me it's more than just a record, it's a mixtape, it's a beat tape, it's whatever you want to call it, it's the dopest thing I ever did."

Ever since the release of their acclaimed debut EP P'eau (2018) these Mechelen-based musicians have been honing their craft in songwriting and production, building a new home studio to record future material while also expanding from a three-piece to a five-piece ensemble. By adding singer/percussionist Stefan De Graef (Psychonaut) and guitarist/singer Sander Rom (L'Itch) to their ranks, HIPPOTRAKTOR have become a more versatile outfit able to employ a broader palette of sounds, taking the band's earlier instrumental prog metal sound to new heights. Taking notes from the best moments in contemporary progressive and post metal, HIPPOTRAKTOR capture the awe-inspiring power of nature_from the delicacy of the first falling leaf to the massive cosmic energy of the sun. By combining the big, catchy riffs and the rhythmical prowess of Gojira with the relentless but equally groove-loaded complexity of Meshuggah, Meridian delivers an overwhelming experience of sound, presenting the listener with sentiments that are recognisable, but with an intensity that seems larger-than-life. "Meridian finds its origin in everyday moods, taken out of context and morphed into a stylised version that re- flects the dreamer in me," explains main songwriter and guitarist Chiaran Verheyden. "It tells the story of someone who's lost in a world too massive to comprehend, and seeks answers in places where none can be found. Meridian was written as an attempt to distillate what I felt but couldn't put into words." As the main vocalist in the group, finding these words was the job of Stefan De Graef, who carried over his fascination for philosophy and religion from his other band Psychonaut. "Meridian tells the story of a solitary wanderer on the Earth in the absence of other beings," explains Stefan. "Without anyone to share knowledge and history with, the protagonist is forced to create his own truths and stories about the nature of life, consciousness and the universe. The protagonist begins to personify and deify his surroundings, assigning sentience to the trees, the mountains, the wind, the waters etc. for they are his only companions in this desolate world." Essentially, Meridian is an exploration of the evolutionary theory of naturism, which was put forth by German scholar Max Mu"ller in the 19th century, and which argues that religion finds its origin in the deification of the forces of nature by early human beings. By juxtaposing this sociological theory with seven tracks that unfailingly conjure images of the earth, sea and sky, HIPPOTRAKTOR have created an analogy that enlarges the imaginative quality of their music to (literally) epic proportions. Combining the best of prog, groove and post-metal, Meridian comprises an incredible ride for fans of soaring hooks, technical riffing and earth-shattering breakdowns. Limited bluegreen-grey single colour vinyl edition, gatefold! FOR FANS OF Meshuggah, Periphery, Cloudkicker, Intronaut, Animals As Leaders, Gojira, Skyharbor, Psychonaut

Der Titel des zweiten Soloalbums der Chastity Belt-Sängerin Julia Shapiro ist eine Zustandsbeschreibung. Wie jeder Mensch mit einem Puls auf dieser Erde fühlte sich das Jahr 2020 für Shapiro mehr als einmal völlig zorked an. Im März 2020 beschloss Shapiro die spätwinterliche Tristesse Seattles gegen den immerwährenden Sonnenschein von Los Angeles einzutauschen. Also packte sie ihre Sachen, nur um dann in der Stadt der scheinbar endlosen Möglichkeiten kurz nach ihrer Ankunft pandemiebedingt nahezu in die totale Isolation gezwungen zu werden. Da sie nirgendwo hin konnte und nichts zu tun hatte, begann sie neue Songs zu schreiben, deren Grundstimmung ihre damalige Gemütslage perfekt einfangen. Auf ihrem zweiten Album beschreibt Shapiro Los Angeles als eine in Zeitlupe dahinschmelzende Einöde. Als einen Ort, an dem sie mit Geistern und seltsamen Gestalten kommuniziert. Oder wie sie es ausdrückt: "It takes you on a wild ride. There's weird shit in it." "Zorked" wurde von Shapiros Mitbewohnerin Melina Duterte (JAY SOM) mitproduziert, die ihr Haus während des Lockdowns in ein praktikables Heimstudio verwandelte. Die durchaus noisigen Aufnahmen verliefen zum Glück unproblematisch, da ihr einziger Nachbar in Hörweite das ganze Jahr 2020 damit verbrachte, über zehn Stunden am Tag Karaoke zu singen. Auf Dutertes Drängen, entschloss sich Shapiro auch die neuen Songs weniger nach ihrem ersten Soloalbum "Perfect Version" oder nach Chastity Belt klingen zu lassen. Stattdessen sprang sie auf dem Höhepunkt ihrer Unsicherheit und ihres Unbehagens auf der Suche nach etwas Neuem ins kalte Wasser - und fand Kraft in schweren Shoegaze-Klängen.

ABRAXAS is the activist techno side project of Damià Llorens , alma matter of WE ARE NOT BROTHERS. Self-defined as “activism trough music, promoting social, political, economical and environmental changes in our fucking capitalist society towards a greater good”, his vinyl debut is about real punk attitude on the 21th century. Including collaborations by Nightcrawler, Univac and José Rodríguez”. Presented on deluxe edition, including inner printed sleeve.

For all overthinkers and introverts. On their debut album "Smalltalk & DMCs", the Berlin indie-pop trio Varley finds strength in vulnerability. The result: an album like a good friend.

The indie-pop trio Varley is Dublin-born Claire-Ann and German band mates Joschka Bender and Matthias Heising. Initially influenced by Bon Iver, and citing the likes of Fleetwood Mac, The Cardigans and Phoebe Bridgers as other notable touchstones, what lies at the core of Varley’s affective, heart-on-sleeve music is its willingness to be vulnerable. Their music is an honest and raw outlet, and the cathartic nature of their songwriting is one to be championed.

Featuring Anthony Green of Circa Survive, Adam Lazzara and John Nolan of Taking Back Sunday and additional percussion from Benjamin Homola of Grouplove, Fuckin Whatever is a fluid project born of longtime friendships and late nights on the road, but what it could grow to become is entirely unwritten. It all started on the 2016 Taste Of Chaos tour. After Green wrapped his opening set with Saosin each night, itching to play more music, he started setting up impromptu acoustic gigs in the parking lots after his set. One night, his restless energy led to an impromptu backstage jam session with Lazzara, Nolan, Homola, and others––except there were no instruments involved. Using just their voices and a stomp or two in lieu of percussion... before they even realized it, Fuckin Whatever was born. They decided to start recording these nightly jam sessions on their phones, and by the end of the tour, there were literally dozens of recordings. There are some as long as 17-minutes, some recorded in bathrooms, and even one in the legendary tunnel between the stage and sound booth at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado. What they share in common is the camaraderie of the many talented voices (and sounds) involved. Fast forward to 2020––ugh. With a creative need to continue making and releasing music, Anthony approached the group about releasing some of those recordings. Feeling a similar restlessness, Nolan suggested they try making and recording something for real instead. "I'm Waiting On You" is what came next, and it's truly the spark that led to the rest of this EP coming together. There are zero instruments on Fuckin Whatever's self-titled debut. "It's pretty much 80% mouth noises and 20% Ben slapping things around the house," Lazzara explains. Those voices, however, are among some of the most recognizable in modern rock music, yet here they take on a new life. Call it a band, or a supergroup... it's Fuckin Whatever.

LP pressed exclusively for National Album Day 2021 on gold vinyl in
single-pocket jacket with custom dust sleeve and digital download
coupon.
 Through ‘Titanic Rising’, Weyes Blood, aka Natalie Mering, has
designed her own universe to soulfully navigate life’s mysteries.
Manoeuvring through a space time continuum, she plays the role of
melodic, sometimes melancholic, anthropologist.
 Tellingly, Mering classifies ‘Titanic Rising’ - written and recorded during
the first half of 2018, after three albums and years of touring - as The
Kinks meeting WWII or Bob Seger meets Enya. The latter captures the
album’s wilful expansiveness (“You can tell there’s not a guy pulling the
strings in Enya’s studio,” she notes, admiringly). The former relays her
imperative to connect with listeners. “The clarity of Bob Seger is
unmistakable. I’m a big fan of conversational songwriting,” she adds. “I
just try to do that in a way that uses abstract imagery as well.”
 The Weyes Blood frontwoman grew up singing in gospel and madrigal
choirs. (Listen closely to ‘Titanic Rising’ and you’ll also hear the jazz of
Hoagy Carmichael mingle with the artful mysticism of Alejandro
Jodorowsky and the monomyth of scholar Joseph Campbell.)
‘Something To Believe’, a confessional that makes judicious use of the
slide guitar, touches on that cosmological upbringing. “Belief is
something all humans need. Shared myths are part of our psychology
and survival,” she says. “Now we have a weird mishmash of capitalism
and movies and science. There have been moments where I felt very
existential and lost.”
 As a kid, she filled that void with ‘Titanic’. (Yes, the movie.) “It was
engineered for little girls and had its own mythology,” she explains.
Mering also noticed that the blockbuster romance actually offered a story
about loss born of man’s hubris. “It’s so symbolic that The Titanic would
crash into an iceberg, and now that iceberg is melting, sinking
civilization.” Today, this hubris also extends to the relentless adoption of
technology, at the expense of both happiness and attention spans.
 But Weyes Blood isn’t one to stew. Her observations play out in an
ethereal saunter: far more meditative than cynical. To Mering, listening
and thinking are concurrent experiences. “There are complicated
influences mixed in with more relatable nostalgic melodies,” she says.
“In my mind my music feels so big, a true production. I’m not a huge,
popular artist, but I feel like one when I’m in the studio. But it’s never
taking away from the music. I’m just making a bigger space for myself.”

ANNA LEONE will release her first album, ‘I’VE FELT ALL THESE THINGS’,
produced by Paul Butler (Michael Kiwanuka, Hurray For The Riff Raff).
The debut follows Stockholm native Anna’s widely applauded debut EP ‘Wandered Away’, drawing fans at 6Music including Lauren Laverne & Guy Garvey,
alongside Ones To Watch tips from Spotify and Youtube, and over 18 million
streams online.
‘I’VE FELT ALL THESE THINGS’ is an album that explores how we close ourselves
off to the world, a feeling that has become ever-present in the sad, surreal climate of 2020, in more expansive ways. It’s also an album about how we try and
get beyond those inclinations, and how we make it through

Multiinstrumentalist, singer and composer/songwriter Marianne Sveen
twists the term next of kin and takes you into her thoughts on the subject,
creating an atmospheric and almost cinematic universe, where you vividly
and the relations they are regarding.
The songs are based on reflections while working as a nurse in mental health
care and how it can be perceived so differently. The album is conceptual and
the soundscape mirrors the dynamic in the songs, gently touching your cheek
in one second, and striking you hard in the stomach next.
The cinematic and detailed sound emphasizes the song mood and amplifies
these very strong and emotional stories. Award winning Ola Kvernberg and
Daniel Herskedal are some of the brilliant musicians contributing to this masterpiece.

Peter Sagar — also known as HOMESHAKE wrote the majority of his fifth studio album, Under the Weather, in 2019, when he was going through a long, unrelenting period of sadness. “I was in a deep, deep depression,” he recalls of that time period now. Sagar and his partner were living in Montreal, and while everyone was out being social, he was inside listening to ambient music, binging Star Trek, and writing songs. (Sound familiar?) “It was a bit of a dark pit,” he says. “That’s kind of what the whole album is about.”

Under the Weather is hazy and moody, the pace slow as syrup, and from beginning to end, a fog falls over every synth and guitar line. “Oftentimes when you’re in a dark place, you’re supposed to journal and that helps release the pressure,” Sagar says. “For me, it always found its way into the music.”

Capturing the cloudy sound of a depressive funk was no simple feat, especially in the headspace Sagar was in for over a year. For that reason, he decided to enlist his friend, Jerry Paper ’s Lucas Nathan, to help with production on the record. Having Nathan contribute helped Sagar dial back some of the “dry, pristine digital sound” that defined his fourth studio album, Helium , and add back personal analog touches that drew people to the HOMESHAKE project in the first place.

As Sagar readies for the album’s release this September, the record he wrote about feeling isolated, alone, and despondent has begun to seem eerily prescient. “I’ve been writing about feeling isolated my whole life,” he says — but with age, he has come to understand them better. “I had a fairly clear idea what the album was going to be like based on where I was emotionally at the time,” he says about Under the Weather . “I just try to make music that is honest about how I’m feeling.”

Listening to the story of Canadian duo cleopatrick is a bit like hearing the plot of the best, most righteously validating coming-of-age film never made. Two friends meet aged four in Hicksville, Nowheretown (real name: Cobourg, Ontario, population 19,000), grow up completely inseparable, form a band and, against numerous obstacles, blossom into a genuine, global underground sensation. There are heroes and villains, highs and lows and, crucially, some of the most poetic plot twists that could seem almost too perfect, were they not completely true. Take the story of 2017 breakthrough track ‘hometown’ for example. “It’s one of the craziest, most ironic things that’s ever happened,” begins vocalist and guitarist Luke Gruntz. “I was going to college because I was too scared to put all my chips in the band pile, and that’s what ‘hometown’ is about: it’s a song about feeling like we’re doing all this stuff and we’re working so hard and we’re just never going to be heard. It’s literally a song about people probably never hearing our songs. And then by some act of the universe, that song ended up unlocking all the doors for us.” Today, cleopatrick has logged 77 million streams and counting - all from an increasingly dedicated fanbase who’ve found the duo, completed by drummer Ian Fraser, their own way: no major label, no big budget, just two best pals knuckling down, cementing a unique sonic alchemy and filling a space of honest, empathetic yet undeniably heavy-hitting rock music that they’d been searching for themselves for years. Between multiple sold out tours in Canada, the US and the UK/EU and appearances at Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits and Reading/Leeds, the pair have been crafting BUMMER: a debut album that sees cleopatrick harness all the magic they’ve been brewing over their two-decade friendship and funnel it into a record that aims to reinvigorate the rock landscape from the ground up. Taking the ethos of their New Rock Mafia collective - a group of friends and fellow bands, united in making a more inclusive, equality-driven space in rock music - and imbuing it with the sonic ambition and ferocity of a record designed to be played hard and loud, it’s an album about two friends, who’ve been with each other since the formative first steps that adorn ‘BUMMER’’s heartwarming cover image and made something that’s a testament to the power of sticking to your guns.

Techno can be happy, techno can be sad, techno can be fast, techno can be slow, it can be deep or banging, it can be straightforward as well as abstract. It might be the soundtrack of hell but may bring you to paradise. Techno has many faces and this compilation shows but some of them.
STAUB has always been about the unknown and about diversity: newcomers come on stage after old-timers, peak time happens anytime. Line-ups are not announced. The rules of the game are blurred.

STAUB 006 will be released this September. A record that embraces the very idea of various with 5 tracks and 5 shades of a genre we love and sometimes live for.

In 1988, on a break from his band the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards released his first ever solo album, Talk Is Cheap. This universally respected debut is an eleven track masterclass in everything that's good about rock 'n roll and features guest appearances from an all-star cast including Sarah Dash, Bootsy Collins, Maceo Parker, the Memphis Horns, Patti Sciafia and Mick Taylor.

Remastered from the original tapes by Richards' collaborator, Steve Jordan, the album's joyous swagger is re-energised and permeates through each and every song.

Talk Is Cheap sounds as good today as it did thirty years ago; in Keith's words: 'As fresh as the day it was made.

After his debut LP ‘Temmuz’, released at the beginning of last year, Houschyar is back on Macadam Mambo with his new album: a less danceable but more personal opus. Being locked up on the rooftops of Istanbul, Houschyar repurposed a satellite dish, making use of its perfectly round and concave shape to create strange metallic-sounding percussive loops which he painted with sonic atmospheres that contained diverse shades of blue. ‘Mavi’ is an introspective pallet of emotions condensed into 7 hybrid compositions highly improvised which divagate into a very jazzy modern state of mind, jamming with pianos, electronic organs and rhythm boxes to produce another type of spiritual music that sounds absolutely timeless. In a very prolific year - with his release with DJ Sofa and Okay Temiz on Music from Memory and the initial EP of Raphael Kosmos’ newborn label Späti Records -, Marius Houschyar leaves no doubt about the level of his talent and him being part of a new generation of artists to keep a close eye on. To discover as soon as possible!

A Fantastic Woman (Spanish: Una mujer fantástica) is a 2017 drama film directed by Sebastián Lelio and written by Lelio and Gonzalo Maza. It was selected as the Chilean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film where it won in the 90th Academy Awards. The film is about Marina, a transgender woman who works as a waitress and moonlights as a nightclub singer, is bowled over by the death of her older boyfriend. It premiered at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival in 2017 where it won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay and the Teddy Award, an award given to films with a LGBT theme.

Matthew Herbert is an award-winning composer, artist, producer and writer. He has had work commissioned by the Royal Opera House, the BBC and has remixed iconic artists such as Quincy Jones, Ennio Morricone and been a longtime collaborator of Bjork’s, but he is best known for working with sound, turning ordinary or so-called found sound in to electronic music.

This is a limited edition contains of 1000 individually numbered copies on transparent pink coloured vinyl. The LP package contains an insert with notes from director Sebastián Lelio.

On October 15th, Mac Miller's cult favourite mixtape Faces will be available on all streaming services for the first time since its initial release. The project, which originally debuted on Mother's Day 2014, is a vital release in Mac's catalogue that followed-up his critically-acclaimed sophomore album Watching Movies With The Sound Off. Upon its arrival, the mixtape served as the high water mark for Mac's technical prowess and cemented a creative actualization that would continue through his career; reinventing himself with each new project. Reviewing the project following its release, critic Craig Jenkins succinctly described it as "the best work of his career.
"In addition to being made available on streaming services, Faces will be available on vinyl for the first time on October 15th. .

The announcement of the mixtape’s release on streaming services next month arrives alongside a new music video for Faces highlight "Colours and Shapes." Its director Sam Mason speaks on the work: “The track felt very visual to me—like it had its own world. This atmospheric night time place that was sometimes dangerous, sometimes comforting, then I saw a picture of Ralph and a story emerged. To build it out I asked Malcolm’s family to send me bits and pieces from his childhood, scenes from the town where he grew up, objects, toys from his room—little pieces of his life that I extrapolated outwards and used to inspire the story. In the abstract, it’s meant to be a video about childhood—growing up as an artist and the highs and lows of that experience. It’s sort of a look at the emotional and difficult and perilous but noble path of an artist. ”Stay tuned for more Mac Miller and Faces news soon.

Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, producer, and songwriter Jordan Rakei is back with his fourth studio album

What We Call Life is Jordan Rakei’s most vulnerable and intimate album to date. Its lyrics concern the lessons that the New Zealand-born, Australia-raised, and London-based artist learned about himself during therapy, a journey that began two years ago when he started reading about the ‘positive psychology’ movement. Rakei, already a practitioner of meditation and mindfulness, was curious about the potential of using therapy for further self-discovery. During the process, he began to learn more about his behaviour patterns and anxieties, and addressed his long-standing irrational phobia of birds – a fear often associated with the unpredictable and the unknown, and something explored in the album’s creative direction and visuals.

“As we worked through it, it made me realise I would love to talk about the different lessons I learned from therapy in my music: about my early childhood, my relationship with my parents and siblings, becoming independent in London, being in a new marriage, understanding how my marriage compares to the relationship my parents had” Rakei says.

Black vinyl LP, printed inner sleeve, fully artworked outer sleeve with obi. Includes double-sided lyric poster and MP3 download code. Artwork by Justin Tyler Close.

Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, producer, and songwriter Jordan Rakei is back with his fourth studio album

What We Call Life is Jordan Rakei’s most vulnerable and intimate album to date. Its lyrics concern the lessons that the New Zealand-born, Australia-raised, and London-based artist learned about himself during therapy, a journey that began two years ago when he started reading about the ‘positive psychology’ movement. Rakei, already a practitioner of meditation and mindfulness, was curious about the potential of using therapy for further self-discovery. During the process, he began to learn more about his behaviour patterns and anxieties, and addressed his long-standing irrational phobia of birds – a fear often associated with the unpredictable and the unknown, and something explored in the album’s creative direction and visuals.

“As we worked through it, it made me realise I would love to talk about the different lessons I learned from therapy in my music: about my early childhood, my relationship with my parents and siblings, becoming independent in London, being in a new marriage, understanding how my marriage compares to the relationship my parents had” Rakei says.

Translucent pistachio green vinyl LP, printed inner sleeve, fully artworked outer sleeve with obi. Includes double-sided lyric poster and MP3 download code. Artwork by Justin Tyler Close.