Track by Track: Kidswaste - Spleen

When it comes to international electronic hubs, there is no country quite as exciting as France. The French have had a long-standing relationship with many of the popular electronic genres, with names including Daft Punk and Justice spear-heading the French-house movement whilst on the other side of the spectrum, you have names like David Guetta commanding the more commercial side of things. The same applies to the underground too, with artists including Point Point and the entire Slow Hours crew (which encompasses Kidswaste and Rusty Hook among others) leading the charge in the more low-key realms that are largely embraced on Soundcloud. Kidswaste included, these artists have exploded with the parallel rise of Soundcloud and the future-bass genre in which they first arose in, but with the release of his debut EP Spleen, Kidswaste is switching things up.

Across the EP’s five tracks, Kidswaste’s debut is barrier-breaking for the young producer. He’s shedding the future-bass roots that tend to haunt artists like these, re-emerging with a far more mature and refined sound that has longevity and strength, and doesn’t depend on how the rest of the genre is fairing out. On the Chelsea Cutler-featuring opener More Colours, slight shades of his original sound shine through, with glistening walls of synth crashing above light vocal melodies. However, much of the EP is more focused on distancing Kidswaste away from these synthetic, almost unnatural sounds in favour for more classical instrumentation, such as the soft guitar riffs of Time or Friends. Listen to the full EP below on Soundcloud and while you’re listening, learn about the background and development of each song from the man himself.

First, some background on the EP as a whole: Spleen is a french literary movement created by Charles Baudelaire in the 1800s. It represents the feelings of melancholy, pensive sadness, and troubled thoughts. My [EP] Spleen cycles through all of these states, and its goal is to make people think about their feelings, what they want to feel, what they remember when hearing a song.

More Colours (feat. Chelsea Cutler)

Chelsea and I wrote More Colours a long time ago, and we ended up choosing to include it on the EP because it really correlated with Baudelaire’s ideas. This song is about two separated lovers. They miss each other and can’t be together, but come to realise that they’re bound to each other by their love and memories.

Time

Time is a song about nostalgia. It’s surrounded by a feeling you have when you need to move on from something (or someone), but don’t want to. You have to keep moving forward because “adventures are made of stone”.

Wild (feat. Khai)

In a way, Wild is sort of a response to Time. It’s about realizing that if you have to move on, do it without a care in the world. Be happy, loving and embracing, even if you don’t know where you’re going. This song is the anti-spleen, the way out of it. Wild almost ended up being at the end of the tracklist, but it felt too easy to have a happy song at the end.

Alone

Alone is the interlude. It’s the only song that uses a lot of electronic elements. The guitar is fake, the voice sounds altered and robotic, and there’s nothing recorded - just synths and chops. I wanted Alone to be alone. This song symbolizes Spleen the most. It almost doesn’t make sense to have this sad moment after Wild. They’re complete opposites, but you’re never truly happy or sad forever. Life is made of ups and downs, and I wanted to go up before going down.

Friends (feat. TRACE)

I was originally going to sing on Friends, but it didn’t work at first and TRACE joined me to help finish the song up. This song is neutral. Its purpose is to make you feel what you want to feel. It’s really melancholic in its theme, talking about friendships that you don’t want to end, and overthinking things that may or may not happen. The message that I’m trying to send by ending the EP with this one is that music is made to make you feel how you want to feel. There are no sad or happy songs if you think about it. You are the one that feels things based on what you hear.

Spleen is available on iTunes now, via Next Wave Records / Ultra Music.

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