At the point in which commercial pop music deviates into the warped and wonderful sphere of leftfield pop, sits the consistently evolving Swiss artist Gaspar Narby. As a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer with the broad landscapes and caveats of pop in his arsenal, he is clearly revelling in the expanse of his creative freedoms.
With an EP, a remix and a series of well-received singles under his belt thus far this year, his tireless work ethic provides us even more new music with him teasing a project that closes out his year; a collaborative EP simply titled Collab. The final taste of which before it's impending release, "Fragments" sees Narby's chameleonic sound perfectly house the silky tones of London-based pop newcomer Taura.
The harp that starts and sustains throughout the track immediately introduces a sense of introspective wonder, a feeling that only compounds with each masterfully placed element. The understated approach to the production pulls further focus to the truly transcendent vocal, which in turns reflects the attention back to the production through a series of melodic passages that utilise her voice as a sampled instrument. A rich harmony in melody and both synthetic and organic sounds, Narby provides an insight to his creative process in an email statement, sharing that, "I wanted to mix electronics with actual orchestral instruments, as opposed to MIDI. I chopped a harp recording and then played the cello and the violin myself – I played so poorly I had to isolate the right notes and trigger them from my computer, but still, it counts!"
In the same statement, Narby continues, “Lyrically, Fragments is about moments that turn into memories, and memories that fade away. I was coming out of a three-year-long relationship, and the part in Spanish is actually my ex-girlfriend reading one of her poems.”
Collab is out independently on December 11th.
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