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The occult and folk music have been friends for a while. In the 21st century, hauntology and the resurface of some cult soundtracks from the 1970s and 1980s helped to create a new sense of folk, not associated with the typical acoustic feeling, but more relatable with library, krautrock/kosmische and industrial music. João Kyron and Tony Watts, long time collaborators since the late 1990s with their band Hipnótica, and more recently with Beautify Junkyards (Ghost Box) are well acquainted with this friendship. Hidden Horse is their new project as a duo and “Opala” their first release.

With eight tracks and almost thirty minutes, their first release explores dense and greyish urban utopias. The song titles explore ideas that mix sci-fi, horror, science, space and urban phobia, and the music Kyron and Watts create delivers, using electronics and drums with great relish. Their relationship as musicians, which spans more than two decades, can be felt in the way their music flows with a continuous dialogue.

“Opala” is always keen to take you to another dimension. It lives in its own twilight zone, where the obscure entangles the most obvious senses of reality. It sounds like Jacques Tati “Playtime” with a hauntology soundtrack: it kind of feels that this imaginary world is real, but it’s not. And it sucks you in to be a part of it and enjoy it: close your eyes and let yourself go while listening to “Levitação Magnética” or “Fantasmas do Planeta”. You will feel like a foreigner in a new city.

London-based musician Harriet Zoe Pittard aka Zoee has been described as an artist who writes 'personal pop for people who don't fit in' (Huck Magazine). Previously, Zoee has released singles through Ryan Hemworth's 'Secret Songs' imprint and Vegyn's label Plz Make It Ruins, as well as guesting as a vocalist on tracks with Hot Chip's Joe Goddard and with hyper-pop collective PC Music.Over the past two years Zoee has taken some time to nurture her voice and her sound. Her debut album 'Flaw Flower' is due on June 25th. 'Flaw Flower' is an honest and vulnerable glimpse into Zoee's interior world, a world she creates through marrying her real-life phone notes with imagery taken from modern works of literature such as "The Flowering Corpse" by Djuna Barnes, Sylvia Plath's "A Winter Ship" and Maggie Nelson's "Bluets". Through these 11 new songs, Zoee delves deep into her own emotional life, combining aspects of the everyday with the surreal in order to uncover the beauty found in being flawed. The record nods to the avant pop of the 80s, an era that Zoee has always been drawn to thanks to the expressive and trailblazing music of women including Anne Clark, Joan Armatrading, Cyndi Lauper, Rose McDowall and Anna Domino. The album is characterised by a mix of hi-fi and lo-fi instrumentation. 'The Loft' features a free jazz solo from acclaimed experimental saxophonist Ben Vince alongside stock GarageBand synths. 'Host' combines home demo backing vocals with an elaborate baby grand piano solo. Zoee sources foley sounds from YouTube and pulls from her own domestic field recordings, such as a microwave buzzing in 'Microwave' and a shower running in 'Evening Primrose', often using these sounds as the starting point for the songs. Maintaining intimate bedroom elements whilst developing a more expansive band sound, felt integral to the project, since that's where Zoee's writing process often starts, sat on her bed with her laptop and midi keyboard. Writing for the album began in October 2018 when Zoee started working closely again with friend and long-term musical collaborator Rowan Martin. As the material for the record began to take shape the writing and recording process also evolved with the addition of bassist Kyrone Oak and keys player Laura Norman, as well as contributions from Ben Vince and London pop artist Saint Torrente. "I feel like the songs on this album took me deeper into myself, the sad song that I thought was about a boy is still about that but it's also about loss, about self-determination, about not losing hope, about memory, about domesticity, about detachment, about my dad, about my mum, about change, about feeling incredibly alone, about growing up."