WHAT SO NOT ANNOUNCES DEBUT ALBUM ‘NOT ALL THE BEAUTIFUL THINGS’ OUT MARCH 9 FEATURING COLLABORATIONS WITH SKRILLEX, TOTO, DANIEL JOHNS, ROME FORTUNE, SLUMBERJACK, SAN HOLO + MORE
Australia’s What So Not is pleased to announce his long awaited debut album Not All The Beautiful Things — out March 9 via Sweat It Out — featuring frequent collaborator Skrillex, legendary rock lords Toto, plus San Holo and SLUMBERJACK to name only a few. Over three years in the making, Not All the Beautiful Things is about transformation and metamorphosis, a culmination of everything the Australian-born artist has been working towards as he’s built his reputation as one of the most innovative producers in the game, garnering over 455 million combined streams in the process. More than an album, it’s a fully realised artistic statement in which What So Not is in full control of every aspect, from the stage design and visuals to the music videos and merchandise. “I didn’t want to put anything out that doesn’t cohesively match the essence of the songs,” explains the man behind it all, Chris Emerson.
What So Not enlisted some friends to help represent the many moods and voices of the project. The 12-track album will include his last single Be Ok Again featuring former Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns, as well as his brand new single Stuck In Orbit which has just dropped today – featuring vocals by BUOY and co-written by Jono Ma (of Jagwar Ma). Listen to Stuck In Orbit HERE.
Of Stuck In Orbit What So Not says: “This song started as a jam with Jono Ma (Jagwar Ma) in his film scoring studio. The vocals began as a sketch of adlibs from BUOY with only two words, drawn out across the verse “I ov-er comp-en-sate”. That set the tone for the entire piece; each word delivered with much thought and consideration. I wrote the next phase of the lyrics whilst ‘stuck in transit’. I had just reached a point of feeling settled in a special place with amazing people around me when (as usual) I had to pack up my life and jump from city to city for months on end. At the beginning of the journey a British Airways’ system crash left me stranded for a night sitting alone staring at a hotel wall. The circumstances compounded and I channeled the frustration and came up with the lines for and around ‘Stuck in Orbit’. Things came full circle as on this very trip I ended up crossing paths with Jono multiple times, jamming further on ideas for the song and when I finally returned, brainstormed the final elements of the vocal with Winona Oak and BUOY.”
For his debut project, What So Not tapped longtime collaborator Skrillex, and fellow Australian breakout stars SLUMBERJACK along with Rome Fortune, San Holo, Dyro and more. Daniel Johns lends his versatile vocals to multiple tracks on the project. Johns praised What So Not saying, “Watching Emoh work is eye opening. A real professional with great vision.”
Perhaps most eyebrow-raising of all, the album features a collaboration with rock legends Toto. After years of Emoh dropping their seminal sing-a-long hit Africa in his sets, Emoh was able to go into the studio with one of his favorite bands to write their new anthem We Keep On Running.
Having established himself as one of the world’s most revered electronic acts, it’s hard to believe that What So Not hasn’t yet released an album. The man behind such massive anthems as High You Are (50 million-plus streams), Waiting (with Skrillex and RL Grime), and his remix of RUFUS du Sol’s Innerbloom (#30 on Triple J’s Hottest 100 list for 2016), has a slew of EPs under his belt, including 2016’s widely-praised Divide & Conquer. Last year What So Not released Be Ok Again, writing and performing the vocals himself for the first time. The song has garnered over 2 million collective streams and was one of the most played songs on Triple J throughout the summer.
Balancing prolific touring and studio time, 2017 saw What So Not close Coachella’s Gobi tent and headline Australia’s Listen Out festival and sold out shows across Europe, the USA and UK. His creative sphere has not been limited to music either, delving into the writing and co-directing of music videos, conceptualising his 600 square foot ‘Peacock Horse Monster-truck’ and heavy involvement in all aspects of the show programming. What So Not promises it’s just the beginning of what fans can expect from this exciting new phase of his evolution looking ahead to his 2018 touring schedule. “We’re creating this entire world that people can step into,” he says.
Not All The Beautiful Things will be released through Sweat It Out on March 9.
What So Not – Not All The Beautiful Things
1. What So Not & SLUMBERJACK – Warlord
2. What So Not – Be Ok Again (feat. Daniel Johns)
3. What So Not – Beautiful (feat. Winona Oak)
4. What So Not – Stuck In Orbit (feat. BUOY)
5. What So Not & James Earl – Demons (feat. Rome Fortune & Tommy Swisher)
6. What So Not & Skrillex – Goh (feat. KLP)
7. What So Not & Toto – We Keep On Running
8. What So Not & San Holo – If You Only Knew (feat. Daniel Johns)
9. What So Not – Monsters (feat. Michael Christmas & tobi lou)
10. What So Not & Dyro – Bottom End
11. What So Not – Same Mistakes (feat. Daniel Johns)
12. What So Not – Us (feat. Daniels)
HANSAA AND SOSO ANNOUNCE NEW SINGLE NIGHTS FEATURING EMMA SAMETH
Hansaa, aka Vinay Matta, is back, alongside his trusty collaborators soso, with a delicate new single Nights, out February 2. Featuring exciting newcomer Emma Sameth on vocals, Nights builds upon Hansaa’s intricate, diverse body of work and further exemplifies his keen ear for high quality electro alt pop. Nights has also been given an immersive visual treatment, with an effortlessly cool video directed by Julien Pircher.
Nights is a little more experimental and slightly heavier to what we’re used to from Hansaa and soso. Emma Sameth’s fragile vocal sits carefully atop characteristically sharp production at the hands Hansaa and soso, with LA-duo soso bringing the organic elements – the guitar and bass guitar, contrasted with Hansaa’s atmospheric sound design. The cool, unbothered ambiance allows room for atypical sounds and melodic hooks to breathe here – but when everything is pulled back to earth by a simple piano chord, or Sameth’s intensely human voice, it all feels so right. Hansaa can’t wait to release the track, enthusing, “Everything about Nights is awesome, from the vocals, to the mix, to the arrangement, sound design, mood, textures, ambience and the experimental pop aspect of it…it’s about longing for someone that you’ll never see in your life again.”
The clip for Nights is appropriately soft, yet feels intense, as though there is something sinister simmering beneath the surface. Everything is grey; the urban landscape doesn’t feel like home, and neither does the bedroom, but there is something boiling between the two characters that makes it impossible to look away. The picture distorts and swerves as the characters grow simultaneously closer and further apart. The director, Julien Pircher, reflects on the inspiration behind the clip, “It’s desire for the unknown. A pretty, simple and a straight-forward pain. Wanting something that is unreachable and impossible to forget is a sheer torment. The music video for the song Nights is a mental journey through a young man’s world of feelings after meeting a woman that he will probably never see again in his life. While giving the viewer several visual hints, the video confronts the audience with a challenge to find pictorial metaphors and to connect them with the plot in order to open up the storyline and to give the music video the full sense and drama.”
After a killer 2017, which saw Hansaa rack up millions of streams on previous singles Need To Know (ft Oliver Tank) and Primavera (ft. A.CHAL), everyone is wondering what will be next for this enigmatic young producer. Vinay isn’t in any rush. Splitting his time between Australia and adopted homeland Los Angeles, Vinay teases, “I’ve been spending a lot of time with my dad and my sister, and in the studio. I’m just ready to release more dope music.”
Nights ft. Emma Sameth is out on February 2, distribution by Empire out of the USA (Kendrick Lamar, DRAM, BROCKHAMPTON, Anderson.Paak, A.CHAL, Rich Brian).
Hansaa and soso will be dropping future releases with MTNS in Australia and Foreign Air in North Carolina.
SUMNER ANNOUNCE NEW SINGLE PICTURES + EP ALL THAT I AM
There’s something very special about the enigmatic electronic duo Sumner, consisting of Jack McLaine and Chloe Wilson. The underground newcomers have already played alongside Vera Blue, The Smith Street Band, Montaigne, graced the Falls Festival stage and are a part of the upcoming Party In The Paddock…but in 2018, it’s about to get a whole lot bigger with the release of their exciting new single, Pictures, on February 9. This dark RnB track examines solitude, and is the first taste of Sumner’s upcoming debut EP, All That I Am (out Feb 16), a release that explores illness, diagnosis, personal struggle and catharsis, all within Sumner’s own very cool little world.
Pictures plays with a wide variety of elegant influences; the duo embrace the production style of Lorde’s first LP, while adding their own distorted pop/RnB stylings reminiscent of Frank Ocean and heavy bass that feels like something off an Arctic Monkeys record. It’s a potent combination that particularly shines on this single, as the duo have skillfully pieced together some seriously eclectic moments to create this one intelligent, mature, hooky song. Reflecting on the inspiration behind the track, Jack and Chloe agree it’s definitely about feeling very alone, “The song was inspired by the feeling of being alone in a packed club full of people. Feeling distant and out of touch with the people around you laughing, dancing and having a generally happy time.”
The EP All That I Am is further proof that Sumner are one to watch. This collection of songs is perfectly unique and completely self-assured, and not only is that very rare for such a young project – it’s precisely what makes them special. All That I Am is effortlessly cool and refreshing, with open vulnerability within the lyrics that overflow atop consistant beds of glowing, pulsating, dexterous production. Jack and Chloe share a little more about the process and the team behind it all, “The EP was entirely self-produced and recorded. We worked with some mates for particular parts such as Shanice Osita Chuku on additional vocals in 45 Roses and Pictures, and Billy Bennett (Save The Clock Tower) on additional guitar for Lover. We also worked with Ross Irwin (The Cat Empire, The Bamboos) for the horn parts on 45 Roses. The EP was mixed by Kevin ‘KD’ Davis (Rihanna, TLC, Destiny’s Child, Tupac) and mastered by Grammy Award winner William Bowden (Gotye, Hermitude).”
Music is the constant thread shared between Jack and Chloe, as they reflect on the theme of the EP and what it was that brought them together, “We used music as a catharsis, with the EP following a story from illness to a cleaner, healthier mind with a change of perspective through the process… We met living in the small town of Launceston and finding each other’s music through mutual friends. We decided to link up to play a one off gig as ‘Sumner’ and we haven’t stopped making music since.”
Pictures will be out on February 9 and All That I Am is set for release on February 16.