Today, Soothsayer presents the debut album, Nothing Is A Solo Project, from Sydney producer Dro Carey (real name Eugene Ward), with a spotlight on his latest offering ‘Boundary (feat. Zellow)’.
Produced by Dro Carey himself and mixed by Seekae’s George Nicholas (Willaris. K, Juno Mamba, Cosmo’s Midnight), Nothing Is A Solo Project looks to the vocal house production of the 2018 standalone single ‘Glow Now’ to build an album that’s part introspective instrumental and part melodic-driven collaboration with a group of talented artists that lend contrasting, unique moments that coalesce into an impressive whole. Fascinated by the endless opportunities working with new minds can create, Ward gave each of his demos a title as a conceptual starting point, but then gave the artists free reign.
For the first single, ‘Act Like You’re Home (feat. Beni Moun & Julietta)’, which premiered via Clash Mag (UK), Ward contacted Florida-based Moun for his vocal and songwriting chops, but wound up trusting his talent so much that he gave him access to the musical stems to restructure and evolve the song as co-producer. The song then took on another life when Ward hit up California-based singer Julietta – whom he discovered on Spotify - for a breakout verse, resulting in a euphoric house-drenched track. Ward bookended this bold release with the textured and moody instrumental ‘Hemisphere’, a strategic move he went on to repeat with each double release, showcasing his ability to create club-ready and introspective moments which sit in striking contrast on his first studio album.
The flurry of strong singles that followed feature a plethora of incredible artists from around the globe. The silky neo-soul offering ‘Clear To You’ features Melbourne artist Francesca Gonzales and premiered on Dummy Mag (UK) before being added to Double J and FBi radio, the acid house and UK garage hybrid ‘Another Knot’ features celebrated London poet and singer RUE and was premiered on triple j, and the Dancehall-inspired hit ‘Hold A Vibe’ features the widely respected Jamaican artist Alexx A-Game arriving with a captivating visualiser that debuted on Purple Sneakers.
Today, with the release of Nothing Is A Solo Project, the focus is turned to another collaborative standout from the album - ‘Boundary (feat. Zellow)’. ‘Boundary’ is a butter-smooth house track that features the sultry, sweeping vocals of 21-year-old Melbourne artist Zellow, over Ward’s masterful production.
Speaking on the creation for ‘Boundary’, Dro Carey says:
‘Boundary’ was a really early demo created in the process of the album and it was always seen as an important downtempo anchorpoint and point of reprieve in the sequence of songs. Zellow wrote and tracked her parts super quickly and after my first parse at a mix, the song was dormant for some time, and then, after that long period of time working on the rest of the album, I returned to this one to update it in some ways to match up with some of the stylistic things that had been established, including adding the affected sampled vocal parts, as there was now a stronger stylistic palette and guide for how that sort of processing could be done. I'm definitely quite proud of this track as it balances some very odd things in the arrangement, like the jittery and over-complex drum interactions, while working within a pop framework.
Nothing Is A Solo Project has seen global praise from Resident Advisor, Clash Mag, Dummy Mag, Form Mag and Pilerats, Acid Stag and Purple Sneakers locally. The singles’ diverse moods and genres have led to playlisting support at various streaming platforms, including claiming the coveted cover of Spotify's Top Shelf Electronic and seeing the album featured on Bandcamp's New & Notable section, and following strong radio support over the past months - including an interview and premiere on Triple R this past Monday – today, Dro Carey will take over FBi’s airwaves for their Friday Midday Mix.
In the lead up to the release of Nothing Is A Solo Project, Dro Carey launched a ‘Captured Sounds’ initiative – an experiment in creative collaboration. The initiative asked fans to submit field recordings of unusual sounds they encounter in their day-to-day life for Ward to manipulate into samples and transform into an entirely new track. This process allowed Ward the opportunity to engage with his fans in a new and exciting way and with submissions now closed, we can’t wait to hear the result!
A long time in the making, Nothing Is A Solo Project is the kind of debut album that feels like it couldn’t possibly be a first release. Packed with a profusion of textured sounds and masterful beats, the album takes you on a visceral journey, and Soothsayer could not be more excited for listeners to take that first step...
NOTHING IS A SOLO PROJECT IS OUT NOW THROUGH SOOTHSAYER
AVAILABLE HERE
