Australia’s electronic composer extraordinaire Jamie Stevens has had a busy month. First, his hugely acclaimed set at Balance Croatia, where a loved-up crowd from around the world came together and witnessed Hernán Cattáneo in the wings as Jamie dropped Hernan’s remix of his single ‘Dust.’ This was a full circle moment as Jamie was invited to perform live recently for Hernán’s massive Córdoba shows in Argentina to 20,000 people, where he first aired early versions of some key album tracks.
Jamie Stevens is well known for being a founding member of ARIA award-winning Wollongong trio Infusion, one of the most important electronic acts to hail from Australia since the nineties; often referred to as Australia’s answer to Underworld. ‘Single Girls Can Be Cruel’ and album ‘Six Feet Above Yesterday’ left an indelible mark on the electronic music landscape as they toured global festival and club circuits relentlessly, including memorable sets at Glastonbury, Coachella, Roskilde and Creamfields.
However, after releasing an acclaimed catalogue of dance music, expansive enough to fill multiple boxsets on the world’s best dance labels (Bedrock, Anjunadeep, Mango Alley), Stevens has found the perfect moment, vision, and feeling to step forward with his first solo album offering; Beginner’s Guide to Floating.
A project defined by integrity, depth, and timeless musicality, ‘Beginner’s Guide to Floating’ is a totally different beast altogether veering from this evergreen period of club focused material. Despite long being celebrated as a master of emotional resonance and sonic storytelling, weaving soundscapes that strike straight to the heart, this debut album has been a real long-term project. Jamie searched over the last five years for worthwhile themes, meanings and musical connections that would produce a worthy body of work that resonates on a deeper level and remains true to Jamie’s values of always placing artistry above hype.
He finally found this connection initially through a series of singles for revered electronic dance imprint Music To Die For which included early versions of ‘Stay,’ ‘With You,’ and ‘Transference’ that are now featured on the album. These received support from the who’s who of leading DJs like Nick Warren, John Digweed, Joris Voorn, Above & Beyond, Sasha, Markus Schulz, Giuseppe Ottiovani, Lee Burridge and Dave Seaman among hundreds more.
Then through ‘Beginner’s Guide to Floating,’ Jamie discovered solace and form in something visionary; a series of intimate images conjuring transient natural light, cinematic soundscapes, bokeh and deep-hued afterimages, the emotional equivalent of tracers and floaters.
Jamie Stevens tells us more about the impetus of record:
“I’d always wanted to make a solo album separately to Infusion, but it had to it had to mean something truly special to me; and until now, I was never quite settled on what direction to take. As a solo artist, I’m predominantly known for club ready singles and remixes. I was very conscious of wanting to change that and find themes and concepts that aligned with the sort of albums I grew up with and shaped me. Labels like 4AD and Mute, bands like My Bloody Valentine and Four Tet and composers like Max Richter and Cliff Martinez. Albums and the process of sitting and listening to them from start to finish with varied stories were a big part of my DNA and who I’ve become and embody what I love about music. Working with real instrumentation, strings and vocalists brought it all together, so finding Wilma, Skye and Brooke were a significant part of that process taking shape.”
To celebrate his new album ‘Beginners Guide To Floating’, Jamie Stevens recorded an exclusive mix for our Select Cuts series. Enjoy!
Jamie Stevens: Instagram / SoundCloud