Mute Records has signed Maps, a.k.a James Chapman. We Can Create is set for release on June 19. A purveyor of, as the Guardian dubs it, “bedsit electro melancholia”, Chapman has an affinity for My Bloody Valentine and dark, haunting melodies, which, as the Guardian also succinctly put it, sounds like “Aphex Twin with tunes.”
Chapman wrote and recorded the entire record by himself onto a 16-track in his bedroom. The album was co-produced by Valgeir Sigurdsson (Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Bjork) and mixed by Ken Thomas (Sigur Ros, Hope Of The States). You can sample tracks from We Can Create on his Myspace page. It’s kind of amazing stuff.
Here’s the video for “Don’t Fear the Sun”:
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