Dusk and Dawn is our attempt at a more reserved and refined pop sound. The two tracks came about as the result of a night sat at a grand piano in a basement studio in Berlin in which we composed two nocturnes, attempting to tap into the allure and mystique of the night.
We’d been revisiting some iconic 80s alternative pop albums, such as Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden to explore how we might find a balance between an immediate pop sound and a more strung-out, ambient feel. The lead synth-line is a doff of the cap to those inspirations, but the half-time beat and sound design give it a consciously modern touch.
On Dawn meanwhile, we were keen to create a track that just sounded lush and beautiful. Something that you’d be happy to have as your wake-up alarm soundtrack that’d just ease you into the day. We’d been listening to lots of great ambient music like Imaginary Softwoods and Croatian Amor, and wondered how we might couple the piano recording we’d made with some carefully tooled arpeggios.
The remixes on this record were a real bonanza. Faze Action, Ron Basejam and Ian Blevins all on one record. They added a real deft touch to ‘Dawn’, offering something for all the different corners of the dance floor. It was incredibly inspiring to see (and hear) how many ways quite a sparse, ambient track could be still do some damage on the dancefloor.