Christmas has come early for new music heads: Fragrance Records have released a new compilation series entitled Depth.
Their first ever Various Artists album since they launched the label at the start of the year, Depth Vol 1 dropped last week. A truly special collaboration emanating vibes of chill transcendence, future garage and plenty of signature liquid the duo are best known for. Deep, melodic and baked in introspection, it’s the perfect album to bring those cozy December feels to life.
18 tracks full with contributors including the likes of Gifta, Miss Medik, Maykors and our very own Lakeway, there’s a whole rainbow of styles across the collection but it’s all held together with a consistent sense of depth and emotional weight and vibrancy. Here’s Lakeway’s contribution, Touch.
“Lakeway’s track to me is one of the pillars of the full project,” says Baptiste, label owner and half of Marble Elephant. “A perfect blend of dnb and funky sonorities – Fragrance is all about this.”
He’s not wrong. Sonorities beyond Touch are myriad and wholly immersive. Whether it’s the siren-like vocals on Echomatics‘ oceanic Lost In Motion, the deep hypnotic chill of Jmss The Cave, the much darker and heavier dnb cut from Gifta and Charis – Forbode – or Marble Elephant’s gentle, soothing opener with Cooper Stites – Silence – there’s a sea-like charm to the collection as the tide pulls us through the tempos and tempers.
“It was incredibly fun to curate this gem of an album, working with so many talented people is what I live for,” Baptiste tells us. Alongside his partner Tina, they comprise Marble Elephant, a German – French duo who have been long-time friends of 1 More Thing. We reported on their label launch and have even recorded a Come B2B With Me mix in their garden earlier this year. In fact that’s how they linked with Lakeway, who lives in the same town Exeter. Touch was signed just moments after we recorded this…
“It’s always great to work with new people, and Marble Elephant are no different!” says Lakeway from his dark castle of solitude.
“Bigups to them for picking up my tune Touch, which as a… err… Footwork Wave tune? Footwave? Wavework? Either way, it’s an honour to be involved in a project with so many artists who understand the utilization of emotion in dance music.”
We’ll swerve on the genre categorisation and just vibe out instead. 1 More Thing has got a VA dropping on Jan 1 and it’s not dissimilar in the way it uses emotion and feeling to bring together sounds and styles the may otherwise seem a little disparate. This has got us excited and in the mood for a deep music voyage and discovery and, just as its title suggests, it’s perfect for those who want to feel transported when listening to something new for the first time, or anyone who can be appreciative of when a completely different mix of genres can come together to build a narrative.
It’s also a great note to conclude a busy year for Marble Elephant and their exciting Fragrance imprint, and indeed Lakeway. An integral part of 1 More Thing operations this year, he’s made all our years brighter with his debut album I’ve Missed The Sun and everything that’s followed; the album expansion pack Sun x 9, the recent club-shredder Firebreak/Broken Soul and this tragic incident involving a shoe.
From a track on Fragrance to not-so-fragrant footwear. It’s exciting to think of all the unprecedented depths we’ll experience from Lakeway‘s artistry next year…
Fragrance Sounds – Depth Vol 1 is out now
