There were plenty of reasons for Londoner James Mathé to simply keep course after the release of his well received debut album, Chemical Campfires in 2008 on Fence Records: a flourishing reputation as one of Britain's most exciting acoustic troubadours, a prominent spot in Johnny Flynn and Jose Gonzales' backing bands, the roar of applause from the audience at a sold-out show at New York's Bowery Ballroom still ringing in his ears. But Mathé had other ideas. “I loved the acoustic scene, but knew it was not all I was about,” he remembers. “So I dug out all my old Casiotone keyboards, drum machines and analogue synths and just started writing.”

Bloodlines, then, is a compelling reinvention and sees Mathé’s emotive missives from young adulthood rewired into elegiac electronic anthems, dusted with huge spectral gasps of reverb and soul-wrenching organ melodies. Unusually for such an electronic album, it was recorded on vintage analogue gear and straight to tape.  “I really fancied getting back to basics,” says Mathé “I was tired of trying to iron out all the mistakes in modern production. I wanted to record live to tape, keeping all the mistakes in, warts and all.”   

From the sultry ache of opener Bloodline – a nod to Massive Attack's Unfinished Sympathy “about not picking up the bad habits of the generation before you”, says Mathé – to the Pharrell Williams-inspired urban crunch of ‘Turbine’, all the way to ‘The Load’, written when Mathé was indulging in his love of Jurassic 5 era 90s hip hop, Bloodlines is a brilliantly varied listen that pulls and paws at your heartstrings.    If there's a gloriously loose, tenebrous feel to songs like the blue-eyed electro-soul ‘Pagliacco’, it might have something to do with the Londoner's organic approach to song writing. “I just sit down with my dictaphone and make sense of what comes out afterwards. The best stuff usually comes when I’m hungover or not really thinking. The minute I try to be clever with words, it just sounds shit,” Mathé laughs.  Instead, the album's lyrics burn with a simple, poignant immediacy and Mathé sings them with touching, soulful grace. 

Recently signed to iconic London label Memphis Industries (Field Music, POLIÇA, The Go! Team, Dutch Uncles), Mathé is influenced by everything from soul men Stevie Wonder, D'Angelo and Levon Helm to Dirty Projectors and Sufjan Stevens but points to one inspiration in particular for the overall mood of Bloodlines – Vincent Gallo’s cult '90s film Buffalo 66, a twisted romance about a tap dancer who falls for her convict kidnapper – “the end scene which features Yes's Heart of the Sunrise and the scene with Cristina Ricci dancing to King Crimson’s Moonshine at a bowling hall especially,” he notes. 

Tender yet triumphant, Bloodlines marks Mathé as one of Britain's most versatile and adventurous artists.


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Deep&Disco was founded by Producer/DJ/Instrumentalist JKriv as a home for original soul, funk, disco, & house productions. Originally a label, D&D is now a blog purveying the finest new dance, electronic and world sounds.

Tommy Boy Entertainment is a legendary Hip Hop & Electronic label founded in NYC in 1981. The label is credited with launching the careers of notable Hip Hop legends Afrika Bambaataa, Coolio, Queen Latifah, House of Pain, De La Soul, and Naughty By Nature. 

In the late 80's Tommy Boy introduced EDM to mainstream audiences with releases from LFO, Coldcut, and 808 State and is credited with opening the door at Top 40 radio in America again for DJ's with the success of Bob Sinclar's "World Hold On" in 2006.

Known for fusing Electronic music with Hip Hop since its early days, Tommy Boy helped to establish Latin Freestyle and Latin Hip Hop genres with the release of multiple singles and albums from TKA, K7, and Information Society.

In 1989, the label became the first label to market its own clothing line to mainstream consumers via its Tommy Boy Gear line, partnering with brands like Stussy and Carhartt. Tommy Boy continues to license its logo to designers and retailers worldwide including Maharishi and Urban Outfitters.

TREMOR - THE NEW ALBUM - OUT NOW

https://danielavery.ffm.to/tremor

Revered producer and composer Daniel Avery returns with a new album and live show, his most ambitious works to date. Channelling every corner of his sound, Tremor is a bold and transportive body of work through euphoric shoegaze, submerged techno, ambient soundscape and industrial bliss. It remains unmistakably Avery, yet dramatically evolved.


With the album Avery has welcomed an inspiring cast of collaborators, including the likes of Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Walter Schreifels (Quicksand / Rival Schools), bdrmm, Julie Dawson (NewDad), yeule, Ellie, Art School Girlfriend, yunè pinku, and Cecile Believe. Each artist leaves their indelible mark, yet the record’s true power lies in the communal spirit at its core.

“This is a living and breathing collective,” says Avery. “Since the earliest recordings, Tremor felt like a studio in the sky, a space in time through which we could all pass as artists”, he reflects. “It’s the welcoming spirit of acid house with the doors flung open wider still to allow in every influence from my musical journey: the warmth of distortion, the stillness inside intensity, the transcendental beauty of noise... They have always been there in my music but now it feels like those ideas are being transmitted in Technicolor. This is a record for the post-rave comedown kids, the guitar heads and anyone else who wants to come along for the ride. Everyone is welcome.”

Tremor will be released by Avery’s new home of Domino on 31st October.

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