MADVILLA – Old Flame EP [LOCUS]

London-based American artist MADVILLA has seen an impressive flurry of releases on top labels in recent years. His latest – Old Flame EP – comes via FUSE’s sister imprint, LOCUS. 

Speaking exclusively to Mr. Afterparty: 

“The tracks on the EP were written between the end of 2019 through 2020. During this time, I had not long just built my studio in Essex and was focused on developing my sound. I had been experimenting with various concepts/ideas and amidst that, Enzo had reached out asking for music to play out. So I sent over a pack of fresh beats in which two of the EP tracks were included. Enzo liked the tracks and eventually reached out saying he was interested in signing some of them. We picked out ‘So Bad’ and ‘Orbit’.

The aim was to get a solid 4 track EP constructed, so I went off and worked on a few more ideas fresh, and this birthed ‘Old Flame’ (with Shyam P on vocals) and ‘Takeout’. I and Shyam had already been working on some concepts for a track, so straight away I knew I’d want our collaboration to be on the EP. The overall aim was to piece together a versatile selection of music that shows off the various influences of my sound. I wanted the EP to be a real journey that represents what I’m about so I spent plenty of time developing the tracks into what they are today.

The A-sides are warm and soulful, whereas the B sides are club optimized and show a bit of my quirkier side. Each track uses various bits of hardware in my studio, the core sounds being produced on my MPC 1000, Roland SH 201, E-mu Orbit, Casio CT701, Behringer Pro 1, 808 and all processed with various analogue/digital tools. Putting together this release was a lot of fun, everything flowed pretty naturally. I honestly couldn’t think of a better home for it to be on.” – MADVILLA says.

The release is a clear and pleasant exhibition of MADVILLA’s creative depth and potential. So Bad features dreamy disco-infused sampling and a racy beat. Old Flame (feat. Shyam P) takes things a little deeper with a more underground feel, ripened by velvety melodic layers. Orbit keeps a foot on the gas with weird and wonderful organ arrangements and quirky fills. Takeout has the feel of an album track with an incredible intro followed by explicitly underground chunkiness and analogue delights.

MADVILLA‘s Old Flame EP is out now on all major stores and streaming platforms, as well as already starting to scale charts around the world – just a week after its release!