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.


FULL ALBUM:
https://danit.bandcamp.com/album/aliento.

I'm excited to announce that my new album "Aliento" is now available for download on bandcamp.

Enjoy

minha galera
draußen verlaufen



2019
20.12. - Zugvøgel Winternest, Odonien 
31.10. - Apocalyptic (G)raveyard
26.07. - Zugvøgel Festival 07 Nord, Udenbreth
31.05. - Elektronischer Querschnitt, Krefeld
04.05. - Tolerade, Dresden
21.04. - Zugvøgel Osternest
16.02. - Lumiga
02.02. - Love Hürths
15.01. - Bunker @ IMM Passagen, Köln

2018
31.12. - Paraneujahr
20.10. - Eröffnung Kulturraum405, Köln
13.10. - draussen verlaufen & minha galera, Open Air, Köln
21.09. - Irgendwo Closing, Bremen
01.08. - Bässe statt Bagger - Hambi bleibt! Tanzdemo, Köln
18.08. - draussen verlaufen & minha galera, Open Air, Köln
11.08. - Peoplesstore Summerjam, Köln
28.07. - Zugvøgel-Festival 05 Nord, Udenbreth
26.07. - Zugvøgel-Festival 05 Nord, Udenbreth b2b DJ Pattex b2b Mystigrix
07.07. - draussen verlaufen & minha galera, Open Air, Köln
23.06. - minha Flowmarkt III, Köln
10.03. - Lumiga b2b DJ Pattex
03.03. - minha Flowmarkt II, Köln
11.02. - Kobold Party im AZ, Köln
20.01. - Friendly Connections, Schnörres

2017
02.12. - Zugvøgel Festival 04 Süd, Teneriffa
31.10. - Das Kabinett des Dr. Algos, Köln
07.10. - Cyroline b2b DJ Pattex
26.08. -  La Cage aux Folles, Köln

BOOKING:
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NEXT:

08.11.25  Fi / Cologne
21.11.25 Wouahou / Stuttgart 

PAST:
05. - 07.09.25 AWARA Festival
25. - 27.07.25 Zugvøgel Festival
10. - 13.07.25 Cosy Festival
26.03.25 Gebäude 9 / Cologne
22.12.24 Beate Uwe / Berlin
29.11.24 Wouahou / Stuttgart
15.11.24 Beate Uwe / Berlin
15.09.24 Beate Uwe / Berlin
29.08.24 Zum Scheuen Reh / Cologne
31.03.24 Beate Uwe / Berlin
27.10.23 UnFamiliar Festival
09.09.23 Festival am Waldrand / Bad Wildbad
06.08.23 Zugvøgel Festival
22.07.23 Schrotty / Cologne
04.05.23 Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld / Cologne
17.12.22 Fridas Pier / Stuttgart
25.11.22 Wouahou / Stuttgart
02.10.22 Kater Blau / Berlin
16.09.22 Odonien / Cologne
07.08.22 Zugvøgel Festival 
06.08.22 Appletree Garden / as ANKAÏN
01.07.22 Waldschänke Dornheim / Würzburg
26.05.22 Sandbox Festival / Egypt
30.04.22 Lange Nacht der Musik / Friedrichshafen
09.04.22 Beate Uwe / Berlin
04.09.21 Zugvøgel Festival (ANKAÏN)
21.08.21 Seebühne / Plan:et C / Fusion Festival
20.02.20 Karneval der Kolleltive / Köln
15.02.20 Alter Ego / Amsterdam
14.02.20 Mensch Meier / Berlin
07.02.20 N8Lounge / Bonn
03.01.20 Kater Blau / Berlin
25.12.19 Salt & Pepper / Pforzheim
20.12.19 Odonien / Cologne
13.12.19 Heinz Gaul / Cologne
23.11.19 Lucy's Sky / Düsseldorf
15.11.19 Rakete / Stuttgart
10.11.19 Bucht / Berlin
09.11.19 Nachtigal / Cologne
11.10.19 Kauz / Zürich
06.10.19 Kater Blau / Berlin
18.08.19 Bucht der Träumer (ANKAÏN)
16.08.19 Odonien / Cologne
10.08.19 3000Grad Festival
28.07.19 Zugvøgel Festival
27.07.19 Acidcase / Berlin
21.07.19 Acidcase / Moscow
29.06.19 Lucy's sky / Düsseldorf
25.05.19 Mayis Festival / Nürnberg
18.05.19 Gloria / Cologne (ANKAÏN)
27.04.19 Odonien / Cologne
23.03.19 Bahnwärter Thiel / Munich
22.03.19 Sisyphos / Berlin
15.03.19 Reffen209 / Copenhagen
a.m.

big love for:
social justice | climate justice | tickling synapses

happy business!

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