soudvsystem x mattstranger
Perfect Blue is the debut album from Ethiopian-Swedish producer/songwriter Mattstranger. The 13-track album was written and recorded during various stages of a relationship. Though the relationship ultimately ended, the album encapsulates the mood throughout. He tells us, “There’s a mix of emotions and longing–but at the end just being grateful for sharing those summer days together and meeting someone who made you feel things you never knew you could.” That results in an album in which Mattstranger sounds distant and alone, yet somehow present.
Perfect Blue is like an old mixtape found under layers of dust, containing memories of a distant past. It’s a collage made up of soul music, video game sounds, and Hip Hop drums. There’s an influence of psychedelia that permeates throughout the release. We asked Mattstranger to put together a collection of tracks that inspired the album. Check out our Q&A with the artist and read more about the tracks that he chose. Scroll down to listen to the full playlist.
The album draws inspiration from a variety of genres. Is there a particular ethos behind the album? Is there an overall message you want listeners to walk away with after listening to Perfect Blue?
I made [Perfect Blue] during and after a relationship, so it was all written in the moment–really just trying to convey the emotions that I felt at the time. I always had the thought of incorporating stuff that I like, which is RZA-esque drums, chorus, reverb-drenched guitars, and pitchy synths. The production lends itself to my own limitations as a producer and not being tech-savvy. I have these synths and guitars. VSTS and computers aren’t my forte. I guess the ethos was plug in and play and just do what feels right in the moment!
For me, the album is a memory and trip. An adolescent coming to terms with a relationship that just didn’t work out. The love was there.
Were there any notable or amusing happenings surrounding the recording/production of the album?
A lot of the songs were written after talking and being out drinking beer with my friends Niko, Branko, and Enki–discussing what I was feeling and then coming home alone a bit stoned, then writing and recording. I remember writing and recording “Hello” while K.J. was sleeping in my bed–I have my studio in my 1 bedroom apartment–and her waking up after an hour or so and adding the ‘hello’ part. That’s a memory that is evoked every time I listen to that one.
I wrote and recorded “Moon Song” in like 20 minutes before going out to my local bar Världens with my two friends, Martin and Gustav, who play in pg.lost. The song felt like such a quick one compared to the other ones, so it’s fun that it resonates so much with people.
The funniest thing was when Gustav (King Borneo) started to bleed when he recorded the “Why Won’t You Talk To Me” solo. The rockiest anecdote this album brought out, haha!
Your music is described as "the bitter aftertaste of something that was once so sweet." How do you convey this emotion through your songs, and what experiences have shaped this theme in your music?
I really just talk about the longing of someone [who is] in love with someone they can’t be with. At the end of the record, they come to terms with it but still appreciate the time they got to spend together. “Mornings” is a song of remembrance–how we used to act during the early hours when we woke up after a night out in the summer.
Your album was home-recorded in the dead of night. How did the nocturnal atmosphere impact your creative process, and did it contribute to the overall mood of "Perfect Blue"?
It was more of an “I can't concentrate during the day, when everyone is up and doing things” [reason]. I would hang with my homies, have some beers or just loiter around and listen to music. I used to record during the day as well, but I made most of the songs right before dawn. It gave it a feeling of solitude. A few of the songs were made late at night on Christmas Eve by myself. My neighbor hates me for this, by the way. I think he heard the same riffs over and over again with no end!
On “Why Won’t You Talk To Me,” you collaborated with King Borneo. Can you talk about how that came together?
We’ve been friends since high school and play together in Morabeza Tobacco and King Borneo. He’s a musical wunderkind and one of the greatest writers I’ve ever known. Having him on the record for a solo felt like such a given, especially when “Why Won’t You Talk To Me” felt like it needed something a lil extra!
Black Moth Super Rainbow - “Warm Water Leviathan”
Its influence seeps all through Perfect Blue. It is just a demo but I’ve been obsessed with it since I first heard it, always finding new things whenever I hear it. It has so much texture and I love how paradoxical it is in its essence; having these beautiful soothing sounds blended with scary almost creepy and distorted sounds. That conflicting Garbage Pale Kids meet The Beach Boys kind of vibe gives it a contrast that I find super intoxicating.
Hirokazu Tanaka & Keiichi Suzuki - “Age of Enlightenment”
I love the whole [Earthbound] soundtrack. It’s so mixed, genre-wise, and psychedelic-almost kind of weird. This song is dreamy and lush and something I loved having on a loop, cause it’s so soothing. I had a notion that this song with RZA-esque drums would sound insane, and that affected me.
The Nerves - “Hanging on the Telephone”
The raw and adolescent feel makes it feel so pure and honest, from the lyrics to the recording. I tried to emulate the same straightforward simple pop song throughout Perfect Blue. I heard somewhere that it was one of the first songs [The Nerves] ever penned. They wrote it after studying The Beatles’ way of constructing pop songs, by reading the lyrics off the back of one of their records.
Captain Murphy - “The Ritual”
This one is pretty creepy, but I love this one. It’s a bit like a gory, grindhouse horror B movie, but in a song format. I love how well that feeling is conveyed so clearly with the audio dialogue collage at the end. You can trace my love for audio collage way back to when I was listening to MF Doom and Madlib religiously. I always found it super interesting and cool; the idea of taking spoken dialogue from films and making them convey a picture. It can get colorful if you dig into sound effects as well, like on “Super Famicom ii Mantra,” where I use sounds from Ocarina of Time, Street Fighter II, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and so forth, just to add texture.
White Fence - Be At Home
Hearing “Be At Home” for the first time opened my mind to using production almost like an instrument. The songs are so textured and colorful. Like the part when he drenches the looping vocal with tape echo, manipulating it throughout the song using pitch. There’s a sentiment of honesty with leaving the cracks and flaws in the final recording–all those weird sounds that you randomly stumble on when recording different takes and making mistakes or just splicing stuff in just to fuck with it a bit.
Haruomi Hosono & Tatsuro Yamashita - Nostalgia of Island
I played this record a lot. I even have the tracklist insert from the vinyl plastered on the wall in my bedroom home studio! I subconsciously tried to make Perfect Blue the sad counterpart to this. If Pacific is you during your summer vacation on the beach, Perfect Blue is the part when you're hungover on the airplane back home. The chorusy guitars are so warm and soothing. I tried to emulate [the sound] on “Good Grief” and “Hello.” I love how playful the whole album is.
On their debut album Ambivert, Houston-based duo Blemishes—comprised of Julienne Ceron and Jessie Huntington—defies easy categorization by blending diverse musical influences and styles. This 50-minute album showcases a spectrum of sounds, from frantic rhythms to gentle instrumentation, reflecting their view of albums as cohesive narratives rather than mere collections of songs. To highlight its various influences, Ceron curated a playlist for us. Read our Q&A with the writer/producer and listen to the playlist.