“Like Water,” the second to last track on Skin, seems to brood. This time it was different, I had Vince’s vocal first, and wrote the music around it.” That’s not a very orthodox method, but, listening to this track, you’d never guess that’s how it came about. Flume explains the process: “Usually, I start the beat first, and then the rapper gets involved. The album’s other big single, “ Smoke & Retribution,” which features Vince Staples, is another hit. On Skin, though, all rapper features are smooth and natural. At times, to be frank, it just feels awkward. Either T.Shirt or a younger Harvey was unable to make it work the song is quality, but at times you can see the seams. The song, “ On Top,” turned out to be arguably the weakest on the collection. On Flume, his first album, there was just one rapper: T.Shirt. Given his success, it makes sense that he was able to cull vocalists and rappers as he wished: this album features Beck, Little Dragon, Vince Staples, Kai, Tove Lo, and AlunaGeorge - among others.Īll that said, here are the hits - though, on an album so versatile and yet cohesive, it’s hard to pick out just a few. And this is just what Flume was able to do with Skin. You don’t just want to make the same delicious lasagna, you want to add some spices and side dishes. When your first album is a chart-topper, the overwhelming goal with your second is to keep your first album’s audience happy while you impress them further - and also as you draw in an even bigger audience. He struck a previously unheard chord, one that combined elements of EDM and bonafide instrumental hip-hop accordingly, he attracted a variety of ears. Deservedly, he became his label Future Classic’s poster boy, and drew Australian electronic music out of obscurity. His first, self-titled album - which he released when he was just 21 years old - was nearly flawless. Harvey Edward Streten confirms that he is here to stay. With Skin, the 24-year-old Australian producer managed to repurpose and surpass the catchiest elements of his first album. He completed the second-album challenge: to produce a work that doesn’t just reproduce the best features of his debut, but transcends it. Originally published on The Cut, the cultural centre of the entire world.Flume just released his second studio album, Skin, and, with it, achieves a feat that most artists cannot. But there are dogs, so adventurous visitors beware.įeelin’ it? Check out more of Zawada’s work, or listen here.
#Flume album art skin#
PSA: The plant on Skin Companion EP 2 is called a Crown of Thorns and it’s found under a gigantic Aloe Vera in Zawada’s garden. “I recognised how much album art influenced my reading of an album,” he said, and what a colourful interpretation Zawada engineered.Īlas, we’re calling it: our favourite producer X artist collab yet.
If anyone leverages off fear, it’s Zawada. A fitting token, we think.He used to find dictating that aesthetic, of what music ‘looks’ quite terrifying. Vicariously, Zawada and Future Classic both share victory for Flume’s ‘Best Dance/Electronic Album’ (art) Grammy. The end result is a testament to Future Classic relinquishing control, allowing Zawada & Flume’s imagination to flourish. I love the way he embraces technology to twist and contort things from the real world in alien ways.” “I’ve always been a huge fan of Jonathan’s work so it’s been a privilege to have him involved in the visual aesthetic around Skin … Visually I’m interested in the contrast of organic and synthetic, Jonathan’s work so cleverly depicts this so it’s been a natural fit for the music. The man behind Flume, Harley Streten only had praise for the man behind the organic wonders, It was an entirely intuitive process, in which a visual narrative flows from the physical records to Zawada’s creative direction of visuals and set design for Flume’s legendary live performances. From audio prototype to visuals visuals to music.Īfter some mood boarding AKA brainstorming in the creative world, Harley was captured by a miniseries of botanic renderings Zawada privately produced. The true-to-life botanicals we see on record covers for the Skin LP, Skin Companion EP 1 & 2 are elaborations of this, possibly explained by horticultural influences from Flume’s mum. Skin’s aesthetic was developed at the same pace as the tunes, with Harley and Zawada going back and forth. Instead of being engaged by a label upon the completion of an album and concrete campaign schedule with a tightly controlled concrete vision, the creative relationship began as a mere seed. It almost goes without saying, that Flume himself, is anything BUT conventional. These guys, at the helm of the Australian independent record label that Flume is signed to, were laid back enough to relinquish control and let the creatives do their thing.Working with Flume & FC defied most previous music-based jobs Zawada had.
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