If you’ve been following the French electronic scene as closely as we have, you’ll surely have heard of Uppermost’s latest release. The track is called ‘Inner Peace’ and was released on the 20th of September via Uppwind Records.
The producer is also about to embark on his own project, ‘#uppermoments’. The project will allow fans to contribute to his next music video as they take footage of themselves enjoying one of his tracks. As he tells us on his website, ‘The only guideline is to choose from these two main themes only: city or nature landscapes’.
He’s received praise from publications such as Billboard, Vice, COMPLEX,YourEDM, Clash Mag, POP Music, Paper Mag, Earmilk and Magnetic Mag, all favourably receiving his work. Listen to his latest track and share your thoughts on ‘Inner Peace’ with us.
The French independent producer Behdad Nejatbakhshe, better known as UPPERMOST, lists Bon Iver, Floating Points, Tycho, Lane 8, and Crazy P as influences but also cites elements of traditional Persian music as inspiration. Each composition is intended to birth positive emotions to his listeners. He created Uppwind Records to share the music free of industry restraints. He birthed the label hoping to give independent artists a playground to express their visions with the idea of never separating art from the truth that gave it life. His latest offering remains true to this desire.
Australia’s Hatchie has shared a video for “Stay With Me,” the second single from her highly anticipated debut album, ‘Keepsake’ which is set for release on June 21st via Heavenly.
Of the song Harriette Pilbeam says: “‘Stay With Me’ was written as a writing exercise in an effort to step away from my usual style into something more fun and dancey. We originally wrote it with someone else in mind, but realized it was the perfect fit for my album as I wanted to expand into a different sound. It became one of my favourite songs on the record because I’m a sucker for crying-in-the-club tracks.”
On her debut EP ‘Sugar & Spice’, Hatchie delivered the sonic equivalent of falling deliriously in love: a sustained rush of feeling, rendered in swoony melodies and gauzy guitar tones and endlessly hypnotic layers of sound. Now, with her full-length debut ‘Keepsake’ due for release in the height of summer, the Australian singer/songwriter tries on countless new textures, exploring everything from industrial to new wave to dance-pop, handling each with understated elegance and pure, powerful feeling.
Throughout ‘Keepsake’, Hatchie’s kaleidoscopic sonic palette draws out distinct moods and tones, continually revealing her depth and imagination as a musician and songwriter. In the making of the record, the Brisbane-bred musician otherwise known as Harriette Pilbeam recorded in a home studio in Melbourne and worked again with John Castle—the producer behind ‘Sugar & Spice’. And while the album begins and ends with two massively catchy pop tracks—the brightly defiant “Not That Kind,” the euphoric and epic “Keep”—many songs drift into more emotionally tangled terrain, shedding light on experiences both ephemeral and life-changing.
From “being dragged to a party I don’t want to be at, then getting at a fight at the party, and kind of hating myself for it but hating everybody else too” amidst the wobbly synth lines and fantastically icy spoken-word vocals of “Unwanted Guest,” to radiant jangle-pop gem “Her Own Heart”, which puts a singular twist on the post-breakup narrative, there’s a self-possessed spirit that infuses all of the record.
Ultimately ‘Keepsake’ serves as a document of a particularly kinetic moment in Hatchie’s life. “I’m not much of a nostalgic person when it comes to memories, but I do have a tendency to hold on to certain things, like tickets from the first time I went someplace on holiday,” says Hatchie in reflecting on the album’s title. “It made sense to me to call the record that, at a time when I’m going to probably end up with a lot of keepsakes—and in a way, this whole album is almost like a keepsake in itself.”
‘Keepsake’ will be released on June 21st via Heavenly. Pre-order links here:
Hatchie live dates: 29-May Primavera Sound Barcelona, ES 1-Jun Heartland Festival Copenhagen, DK 3-Jun Obaren Stockholm, SE 5-Jun Berghain / Kantine Berlin, DE 7-Jun Paradiso (Small Hall) Amsterdam, NL 8-Jun Villette Sonique Paris, FR 9-Jun Green Door Store, BRIGHTON UK 11-Jun The Louisiana, BRISTOL UK 12-Jun Moth Club, LONDON UK 13-Jun Yes, MANCHESTER UK 14-Jun Brudenell Social Club, LEEDS UK (Heavenly Weekender)
‘Keepsake’ tracklist: 1. Not That Kind 2. Without A Blush (YouTube) 3. Her Own Heart 4. Obsessed 5. Unwanted Guest 6. Secret 7. Kiss The Stars 8. Stay With Me (YouTube) 9. When I Get Out 10. Keep
