Anomali makes his production debut with Inbillningen EP, released digitally in Fur:ther Sessions‘ catalogue on the 20th of February. Thanks to our collaboration, we’re happy to be part of it by hosting the premiere of 2, 4, 5 track and a quick Q&A with the producer. The track, which carries a story you can read below, has an unbiased cinematic soundscape. Dynamically venturing into the depths, the rhythm follows a collision course toward the liquidated background. As the composition “wanders” through the aether with a vibrantly tremorous bassline, the journey leads into a soothing, melancholic stratum after a highly atmospheric dive. This iridescent composition showcases a fine delve into the producer’s influences and engagement with the scene, but also a natural flow of him being able to put such a touching piece of work. With regards to those who wish to learn more about Anomali’s debut, a release interview follows.
Release Q&A
As an introduction to the EP, would you like to let us know what Inbillningen is about? What inspired its sound and aesthetic, the idea behind it, and what motivated you?
I wanted to explore a slightly more dance floor-oriented direction, and how to integrate the influences from the early goa techno music and from the demoscene. Two things that have been essential to my sound. I think it serves as a good introduction to what I’m all about.
Could you share some details about the composition and the overall design of the tracks? Were there any images on your mind before and during the process?
I started making these tracks a long time ago. They’ve been, in many ways, used to practice and experiment with different workflows, techniques and ways of relating to the craft. This also means I’ve put a lot of work into them, and they’ve gone through many revisions.
I don’t really use mental imagery when writing tracks, as I’m not much of a visual thinker. Exploration and discovery of sounds and sequences always felt more natural than trying to materialize what’s in my head. Usually there’s some kind of vague idea of what kind of feeling I want the music to convey, but it’s really mostly what happens to emerge from the explorations.
The most deliberate part is arranging the tracks, as some kind of intention makes music a lot easy to listen to and mix with other tracks.
Do they, perhaps, have a story to tell in combination or as independent “entities”? How would you depict it visually?
Not as such, on an intuitive level they make sense together. I’ve used more narrative creative approaches for guest mixes and found that to be quite rewarding. Definitely looking to try that with my own tracks in the future.
Did you somehow invest emotionally in this release? Is this an approach you’ll follow to your compositions, or would you describe it differently?
Not on a conceptual level, but I’m always heavily guided by which feelings my music create in me. It’s how I make most creative decisions. Additionally, since this is my debut release, I’ve been heavily invested in finishing the songs and getting it out there.
We do not usually see numbers as track titles, and the one we’re premiering, 2,4,5, is in that rare category. Is there something special in this sequence? What is its reference?
It’s a reference to both the polymetric nature of a few of the sequences in the track, but also that’s how my daughter counted when she was younger. It reminds me of a very special time in my life, which is also when the musical idea of this track came to me.
There is also a different take on that track with the word version in parentheses. Would you like to share what made you separate those two?
Initially the idea came from Steve Chuha, head of Fur:ther Sessions, about making a fourth track for release. I didn’t really have a good candidate that made sense with the other tracks, and there wasn’t time to start something new. Instead I decided to make a different version of one of the tracks, and this one didn’t have a remix. The aim was to make something less deep, but it ended up even more deep. Funny how that works. I also got to practice some of my newfound arrangement skills, which was quite rewarding.
Two of the original tracks have a remix from Biocym and Lakej. How do you feel about their sound and how each producer interpreted your creations?
Honestly, I’m just really happy they both wanted to give their own take on my music. They’ve both been quite influential for my creative direction, and their interpretations gave me a better understanding of their process and how they approach it. It’s been an amazing experience, and I think they both turned out great.
Where do you find yourself after this creation? Is there something about it that makes you happy and proud and gives you positive thoughts?
I’m over the moon about finishing this, and that it was accepted to such a label alongside so many of the producers I like the most. It still feels almost surreal, especially after all the work that went into making the tracks.
It was actually a quite challenging process to learn how to find the right workflow, and the patience to keep going. Several years have been spent working on these tracks, trying to figure out when a track is done. What expectations do I have of myself? A lot of things had to be figured out along the road, but I’m also happy I put the time into that.
Now I only need weeks or even days instead of years to finish a track. Can’t wait to put it more into practice, and perhaps even setting up a live set. Let’s see what the future brings.