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.


Several years ago, SK Shlomo (they/them) got sick. 10 years deep into a colourful career, they were a world-record holding beatboxer, a celebrated theatre maker and a well-respected collaborator with the likes of Björk, Gorillaz, Imogen Heap and Rudimental.

They had become the first ever World Looping Champion, brought Ed Sheeran onstage as their guest at Glastonbury, been the first non-classical Artist in Residence at London’s Southbank Centre, and even been the subject of an award-winning feature film.

But something had shifted. In the midst of a near suicidal depression, they stopped performing. Shlomo spent almost two years off the road, recovering what felt lost. A series of personal revelations changed the way that Shlomo viewed themselves and their work.

The result is BREATHE, an award-winning one-person show, alongside the upcoming second LP of the same name forming the show’s 90s rave soundtrack. BREATHE is more personal than any of their previous output, exploring themes they have never before shared in public about coming out as non-binary, being foreign, handling their disability, battling suicide and, ultimately, the healing power of rave.

Blending the energy of a festival with the storytelling of theatre in a distillation of their entire career, BREATHE opens with first single Wave, The Prodigy-esque ode to ADHD, and ends with an electric, neon-bright celebration, proving the power and joy in publicly being exactly who you are.

Find out more: skshlomo.com
Management: info@nebulaproductions.co.uk

Remix/Booking: leo@lwnhrz.com

WWW.LWNHRZ.COM

BERMUDA RECORDS family:
@bermuda_records
@bermudadeep

Released on: 
Bermuda Deep
Indiana Tones Recordings
Clair de Lune Records
Sonic Service
Universal Music

Oh, you know. Just a bunch of music bloggers and photographers who are here to rock your face off. www.whatstheruckus.com


Doctor of Arts, Mercury Prize nominated musician. 
Poet, DJ, Activist. Tea addict.

DJ LEX GREEN was born and raised in Munich
and currently resides in Switzerland for some 
years. His first encounter with electronic music 
was in the 90’s, but that was just the beginning 
of a bigger journey without ending. 

LEX presents his Mixes and Tracks on various 
Radio Stations around the World "Resident on: 
Ibiza Live Radio (ES), Radio Beachgrooves (ES), Estacionibizaradio (CO), Digital X Radio (DE), 
Club Sabroso Radio (DO) & Under Blue Radio (AR)" and he also supports Guest Mixes from other Djs on 
his Soundcloud Channel. Lex attended an Advanced Dj course from Ministry of Sound in Switzerland with Teacher Johnathan Dj Tutor (Ellaskins).

Julia is following