Kuren Takes You Track By Track Through His Debut Album 'Melting Conceptually'

Intro

For the most part, this is just a voice. But what’s most important about this is who’s talking. I made a decision to pursue this music thing when I discovered a Perth-based artist called Ta-ku. Without him, I wouldn’t have taken this so seriously. I originally had a sample from Neil deGrasse Tyson but there was no way of getting it cleared in time, so I decided to reach out to Ta-ku and he was down. Sounds great to have him open my first record. 

Virtual Connectives

I wrote a demo of this song in 2016 and didn’t look at it again until months later. Our world is so much more connected now. I wanted to make some cool trippy future track here and it ended up folding well as the second song. 

Flying Cars ft. Ivan Ooze

The oldest track on the album. I wrote a demo for this song in 2014. I was 16 at the time. Over time I had gone through so many ideas that I just got so stuck on it. Up until a couple months ago I ended up flipping it and started making more of a boom bap track. Then I sent it to Ivan and he wrote it so quickly. Felt great.

Wake Me Up ft. Sydnee Carter

I was so excited to work with Sydnee on this track. Having discovered her via Slumberjack it was nice to know she’d be down to work! I was originally singing on this song but found myself really stuck on making it work. I was going through the tracks for her to feature on and it seemed great in my head. It was definitely refreshing to hear her voice on it. Took it up another level. 

Regain 

This song is another older demo. But I went about writing this differently. Sat down and told myself to make a song with the most recorded, industrial and percussive sample only. Then followed months of recording the most random shit possible. As time went on the song moulded into something aggressive yet beautiful which I’m proud of. 

Mastercraft

Yin and Yang. That's all this song really is. But on the more personal side, this was the first song I released with my own vocals. I'm still not 100% comfortable with using my voice but I find a joy out of it as it’s a new layer to further tell a story.

Bright Dawn ft. Illy

I want to communicate to the listeners whether they be fans or industry based that I can be a diverse artist. We all can and its fun. I was touring with Illy last year and mentioned the idea of getting him on bright dawn. We spent a few days in Sydney working on it in the city. It came together quickly and It’s great to have a more upbeat brighter track on the record. 

2403 (Interlude)

I got super inspired by Bon Iver last year. Had a super phase when I was only listening to him. I had an idea to make a song of the moment I die. Sounds dark but I wanted to make it more of a beautiful thing, ’There's an angel that's come to get me’.

Mon Amour ft. Austen

It felt so right to have Mon Amour in this story. Austen had hit me up on Soundcloud and we started working on some stuff online. I first met her when she came to Sydney and we had a session. I showed her a demo of mon amour and she pulls out a notebook and starts singing. Another one that just came together. 

Lose My Mind 

I felt like switching the pace up at this point. A 4x4 beat with different elements in the background. This one went through a lot of different stages and it was super hard to bring together. But it was another one of those moments when you explore more and that's really the fun with it.

Never Enough ft. Sam Phay

I had this track boiling about a year ago. I got some help from Slumberjack and I just needed to bring the elements together or make it stronger. I was put onto Sam Phay via my publisher Native Tongue and had a session with him in Sydney. He has such a unique voice. I wanted that for my record. This is my favourite song from the album because I feel that in the second drop it best represents my sound and it set a new standard for myself that now is my job to outdo again and again.

Sweater ft. Twerl 

I was trying to write a pop beat originally. After a while, it turned into this electronic boom bap track but I wanted to take it to another level. This song signifies where we are at in the story of the album. It represents hell. I had been loving Twerl’s music and we became friends after meeting in Sydney. Over time the track got sent back and forth until we really had something special.

Waiting For You (Outro) ft. Kat Vinter

In 2016 I attended a writing camp at the Grove Studios thanks to Native Tongue publishing. I was met with Kat Vinter and Tom Mocken and we wrote this from scratch. After sitting on it, we slowed it down and it really became something different. It was a challenge trying to finish it in the end. But it definitely feels good to relax and listen as a whole. 

Kuren tours nationally throughout July and August; check out theGuide for all the details. Melting Conceptually is out June 29 via ONETWO.