Premiere: Adrien Calvet’s ‘Electro’ hits the vintage past & ambitious future of house
His upcoming 'Stay At Home 이태원' EP melds breaks, house, electro & much more
Adrien Calvet returns to the spotlight on his own vinyl-only label, Stay At Home, presenting a remarkable four-track EP that hits us with house, electro, 90s vocals, g-funk synths, and breaks.
The tracks pay homage to his immersive travels through Korea, with a particular focus on the iconic district of Itaewon — the epicentre of Seoul's vibrant nightlife. It also pays tribute to his Korean heritage.
Adrien manages to blend such a wide variety of genres and sounds into this tidy four-track project yet keeps it on the rails and engaging throughout. The A1 track ‘Electro’ is packed full of engaging electro elements, from the groove-heavy bass rhythms and the breaky percussion, but especially in the often acid synth work.
You think you’ve heard all the track has to offer, but then at the two-minute mark, some Daft Punk-esque vocoder vocals come in. We can barely even make out what they say, but we’re happy they appear, as they perfectly keep the track together.
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The track sounds vintage and nostalgic for the 90s, yet always keeps one foot in the future. The producer gets ambitious and creative with the structure and motifs of 'Electro', resulting in an undeniable momentum throughout.
Mixmag Asia caught up with Adrien, who tells us, “The whole EP was made earlier this year whilst touring around Asia and experiencing various Asian cultures and scenes, with its main inspiration being Korea. This tour was dope as I uncovered how amazing the Asia scene was and how much it separates itself from the rest of the world.”
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He continues, “Because I was travelling, the project was only done on my laptop with emulation as I had none of my usual gear. But, I found that only using a few tools to make these tracks helped me experiment with the sounds and creativity. ‘Electro’ is the big banger of the EP, and I’m so happy with the grooves in it, as well as the journey it takes listeners on”.
The EP is set to be released on Adrien’s own vinyl-only label Stay At Home on November 15. Pre-order here.
Henry Cooper is a Writer at Mixmag Asia. Follow him on Instagram.
