8 Billion Realities<\/em> channels years of creative exchange between two of the genre\u2019s most quietly innovative artists and is a result of a decision between the long time friends to refrain from conceptual overthinking in favour of instinct and joy.<\/p>\nAs long-time admirers of each other\u2019s audio\/visual work, Cooper and Clouth collaborated in London together after both emerging from intense, idea-heavy album cycles. What followed was a series of exploratory sessions, half-improvised, half-built around half-formed thoughts. The result is a club-ready EP that feels alive and human: imperfect and hypnotically rich.<\/p>\n
\u201cRob Clouth has been one of my favourite electronic music producers since I first heard his work in 2011,\u201d says Cooper. \u201cHis work is more full of ideas and structure than anyone else.\u201d \u201cWe were both coming from extensive conceptual studio albums and both in the mood for simplifying things and having some fun with the music, so that\u2019s what we did\u201d.<\/p>\n
For Clouth, no stranger to Max Cooper\u2019s Mesh label having previously released an array of EPs plus his 2020 debut album Zero Point<\/em> this record marks a new chapter, both creatively and personally. \u201cSomething pretty new for me is collaborating,\u201d he says. \u201cYou kind of have to know when to stop, because if you develop an idea all the way to its endpoint, the other person has nowhere to jump in.\u201d<\/p>\nThe first A Moment Set Aside<\/em> began as a break from another idea, a live, unplanned improvisation based around arps and ambience. \u201cThe track was written in about as long as it took to play it,\u201d says Cooper. \u201cIt was pulled from a one-hour recording session, more or less as you hear it\u2026 the energy and excitement grew as the unplanned moment bore some magic.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cThe lesson being that sometimes it\u2019s helpful to set aside a moment without forcing results, and let the subconscious have something to say.\u201d What followed was darker, heavier. \u201cAsymptote\u201d is detuned techno. Subversive and euphoric in its descent. \u201cWe found a sort of brain mangling, half consonant, half wandering detuned techno pulse, which we started chatting about being a sort of pit of spiralling body parts we were falling into,\u201d says Cooper. \u201cIt was a lot of fun to work on and let loose with bigger kicks than I usually ever get to unleash.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then came 8 Billion Realities<\/em>, featuring a standout rap performance from FLOHIO; an emerging figure in the UK grime and rap scene. The track was inspired by conversations about algorithmic echo chambers and hyper-personalised online worlds. Frantic, direct, and South London to the core, FLOHIO brings this tension to life. Her sharp, intense flow cuts through distortion and rhythm, landing the track somewhere between chaos and control instantly making it one of the most striking moments in either artist\u2019s catalogue. \u201cA different reality for all 8 billion of us,\u201d says Cooper. \u201cWe weren\u2019t sure if it would work\u2026 but there was something about the energy of the percussive idea and the story which felt like it might fit.\u201d \u201cThen FLOHIO had a play with it and straight off the bat absolutely killed it, not just with the lyrics and energy, but the harmonising too, it was a beautiful process.\u201d<\/p>\nThe final piece on the EP Candeleda<\/em> originated from Clouth\u2019s solo experiments with a live rig made entirely of vocals and keys, using his self-developed \u201ccheatbox\u201d system. \u201cHe put forward a beautiful stumbling melodic sequence which we bounced back and forth adding harmonies and synth layers,\u201d says Cooper. \u201cIt rounds off a collection covering some of the breadth of music that we both love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n