4675 / 040400

"4675 / 040400" is a two-track Trip-Hop/Downtempo release built around a dark, melancholic and heavily sample-based sound.
The original idea was to create my own interpretation of the atmosphere found in "Her Revolution / His Rope" by Burial, Four Tet and Thom Yorke, although during production the project gradually developed into something more rhythmic and closer to the darker side of Massive Attack and William Basinski.

Both tracks are exactly 4:44 long and share several sonic elements, making them feel like two sides of the same piece. Field recordings, degraded textures, crackling fire, sampled vocals and recurring percussion give the release an intentionally worn, almost old and damaged character. Piano, guitars, pads and strings appear throughout both tracks, sometimes relatively untouched and sometimes processed so heavily that their original source becomes almost unrecognisable.

"4675" is the cleaner and more traditionally Trip-Hop-oriented of the two. Its drums are sharp and clearly define the groove, while an old jazz vocal sample becomes the central melodic element. Despite its melancholic atmosphere, the production remains spacious and diverse.

"040400" takes many of the same ingredients in the opposite direction. The percussion is deliberately overwhelming, almost swallowing the rest of the arrangement and giving the track a much darker and heavier character despite its relatively slow pace. Vocal fragments, instruments and textures continuously emerge and disappear underneath the drums, creating a dense and unstable atmosphere.

The emotional direction of the project was strongly influenced by Mark Fisher's book "Ghosts of My Life" and its ideas of memory, loss, nostalgia and cultural ghosts. Both tracks were also produced during a particularly difficult period of my own life, which naturally found its way into the sound.
More than two separate songs, I see "4675 / 040400" as a small study in atmosphere, repetition, sampling and the way the same sonic material can communicate completely different emotions depending on how it is arranged and processed.