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Release Date: 5th April 2019
Label: 20/20 LDN
Format: Digital // Limited edition 8” picture disc
Cat No: 2020LDN016

‘Cracks’ is the new album by ever-evolving producer Yip Wong aka Deft, set for release on 5th April 2019 via Ivy Lab’s 20/20 LDN label.

A body of work that is setting a milestone for the beats scene, ‘Cracks’ is a cinematic and powerfully emotive record by Deft, seamlessly brought together through lo-fi, immersive atmospheres and crisp, intricate beat-scapes. Shaking off the constraints of genre; Yip listened to albums by artists such as Grouper, William Basinki, Bibio and Arthur Russell to gain a better understanding of how these musicians and artists constructed narrative in their work. The album is a personal document to dealing with loss, the process of grief, and the release that comes through music.

“Since I started writing music, I’ve always wanted to put together an LP; a body of work narratively driven with a consistent and coherent voice. As I’m a firm believer in the journey/story that music can give and create, I always tried to apply my idea of an LP to most of my previous EPs. During a large period of time whilst releasing music as Deft, my sister was fighting cancer. Listening to and creating music during that time was really important for me, as a way to cope and deal with everything that was happening. After a long fight, my sister sadly passed away nearly four years ago. I deliberated a lot about deciding whether or not to talk about all of this but ‘Cracks’, although it has gone through a variety of iterations over the past three and bit years, has been my catharsis, and it revolves around grief and all of the ways in which I’ve dealt with the loss of my sister.”

Encompassing how he was feeling at the time, the title track ‘Cracks’ was the first piece he wrote. Deciding this would set the tone of the album, Yip began to use these samples and sounds as the palette for the rest of the tracks. As he continued to write, he focused on resampling and adapting from each previous sketch. Repeated notes, drones and pulses were something he tried to maintain throughout the album, to reflect on his thought processes during this time, and the oddly comforting but often debilitating effect these cycles had when they broke.

“Writing ‘Cracks’ has reinforced my own belief in sampling, resampling, recycling and recreating something out of something else. I sample a lot in music, be it creating my own samples from samples or whatever, and the album has come through this method of thinking. I also worked with one of my good friends Alphabets Heaven on ‘On The Wire’. We worked together solidly over a few sessions to write and record the bass that he played, and that was a process I thoroughly enjoyed; working with someone you know well and trust, and also having them be a part of something that personally means a great deal.”

The ambient tracks on ‘Cracks’ will be collected, along with a new track exclusive to the vinyl, on a limited edition 8” picture disc. The need for a physical format was important to Yip: the track ‘In Passing’ features a recording of Yip’s sister’s voice at the end, one of the only voice memos he had of her on his phone.

“I wanted my sister to be on the record in some way or another. We originally weren’t going to do vinyl for this release, but decided to do this 8” picture disc. Having ‘In Passing’ on vinyl means there is something physical that exists in the world that has my sister’s voice on it.”

@deft
www.2020ldn.com

For more information contact Benjamin Smith
benjamin.smith@echoempire.net // 077 6492 6719

Cracks (2020LDN016)

Cracks

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Ilmars Musperts

one of the best people alive

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