Fred Falke and Zen Freeman’s Ampersounds project drops Rufus Wainwright collaboration, “Technopera”

Electronic artists Fred Falke and Zen Freeman have quietly been releasing music under a new, retro contemporary-focused moniker, Ampersounds. Their latest, "Technopera," features Rufus Wainwright, for an incredible meeting of minds from across disco and singer-songwriter worlds. And rounding out the release's intent, wrapping it up in a neon lite-brite bow, is a coordinating animated music video created by Daft Punk creative director Cedric Hervet. In its full package "Technopera" is poised as the highlight from the duo's upcoming debut EP together, due out July 16.

Falke and Freeman getting together as Ampersounds is a happy collaboration. Falke, known for his modern nu disco stylings, and Freeman, with a similar brand rooted in disco, have styles that marry together seamlessly. Ampersounds have been building a category in 2021, starting with a trio of 80's electronic-inspired tracks, "Nightdrive," a cover of Talking Heads' "Burning Down The House," and "Sacrifice." "Technopera" brings the duo into the more modern era, with elements of progressive house layered in with its retro disco instincts. Wainwright's vocals bring the track down to earth, making it a truly impressive talent show from three veteran artists.

"When Fred and Zen asked me to listen to Technopera, I had already been exploring animations around continuous lines for some time," the video creator Cedric Hervet says. "As soon as I heard the song, I thought to myself that it could be the perfect concept for the music video both simple and poetic. When they mentioned that they used an Oscilloscope synth I knew the stars had aligned. This animation was meant for this song."

Wainwright recently told Variety, "It was liberating as a songwriter to have a platform to jump off from and only have to think about the melody and lyrics and let someone else create the track. It is unlike anything that I have ever done but somehow there still is a lot of Rufus in it. I hope that people will party to the tracks, safely of course, but we all deserve a little party I think."

Wainwright is mid promotion of a milestone virtual concert that will take place on what would have been Judy Garland's 99th birthday. There, he will perform "Rufus does Judy at Capitol Studios," a performance following the honoring of the icon on his "Rudy Does Judy at Carnegie Hall" album release in 2006. Fans can enter to win to attend the show by saving music from here.

Ampersounds' upcoming EP is due out July 16 via West End Records, and you can pre-order or pre-save here.