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single art, album - hi-res here
Anomaly: something that deviates from what is standard, normal and expected, and the perfect encapsulation of everything that beloved Australian producer What So Not has crafted on his sublime sophomore album Anomaly which is officially out in the world today. Fusing together a glimmering pastiche of electronica, hip hop, house and experimental fare, Anomaly is the culmination of a huge 2022 for What So Not’s brainchild Chris Emerson, with the new album ready to unforgettably dazzle with its sweltering anthems and gripping exuberance.
Boasting oscillating dancefloor fillers, emphatic instrumentation and What So Not like you’ve never heard before, Anomaly showcases Chris’ staggering progression since releasing his debut album Not All The Beautiful Things back in 2018. Compiling Chris’ personal experiences traveling the world and recording, a lack of time constraints and the most passionate iteration to date in the What So Not story, Anomaly is equally the ultimate house party soundtrack as much as it’s also Chris cementing his status as a global electronic dance phenomenon. And while the lead up to the ultimate release of Anomaly was itself a departure from usual proceedings with a global pandemic in its wake, for Chris there were many positives to be found in unlikely places, as he explains, “I think this album is the furthest I’ve ever progressed in my music. It’s the strongest, the most thought out, the most evolved version of any music that I’ve worked on over the years and I’m so excited for people to hear it in full. I’m so grateful for the amount of time that I was given to work on it during this off-cycle, which is not something I’ve experienced before. The silver linings of the world shutting down over the past few years have allowed me to refine and hone-in on this album like I’ve never been able to in the past. For me, this is my best work.”
Exploring new sonic horizons, seen most recently on the buoyant track "On Air" featuring Louis The Child, Captain Cuts and JRM, Anomaly also dives headfirst into nostalgic electronica alongside DMA’s on The Change, neon futurism with guest AY AY on title track Anomaly, sparse and deliciously moody melancholia featuring Body Ocean and Lucy Lucy on "Bad Piano" and criminally smooth and sultry production via the Gorillaz-esque "Mr Regular", which also boasts guests Oliver Tree and Killer Mike. With the album also featuring the likes of Phi11a, Zoid Land, Tek Genesis, EVAN GIIA, Enschway, Herizen and even vocals courtesy of What So Not, with Chris appearing on the album’s opening track "Alive", there’s an unmistakable cornucopia of clever soundscapes, glistening delivery and fresh originality at every twist and turn throughout Anomaly. And it’s ultimately towards the end of the 11-piece epic that a significant jewel in the Anomaly crown lies in wait, with Danish superstar MØ appearing on the 2022 edit of the track “Mercy (2022 Edit)”.
Coated with grooves and trademark What So Not shimmer, "Mercy (2022 Edit)" bubbles with infectious melodics, euphoric instrumentation and increasingly stomping beats as it builds towards a torrid drop. With plenty of exotic charm and scintillating production, the journey for "Mercy (2022 Edit)" to find its way onto Anomaly itself stems back to a fortuitous trip to Central America, some experimentation and a touch of sonic cross-pollination, as Chris explains, “Mercy began on my first-ever trip to Nicaragua (which is almost where I bought my first house). I was backpacking through Central America and met JRM, James Flannigan; Georgia Ku, at this writing camp (JRM, of course, is also on On Air with Louis The Child and Captain Cuts). MØ heard the record in its early form and cut a beautiful stripped back ballad version with Two Feet for her album Forever Neverland. This hyper-amped What So Not-style edit has been such a climatic moment for my DJ sets, i’m ecstatic to have MØ on this album and have this out in the world. It’s a song where I really had time to step away from it, rethink it, and flex with all walks of analogue and hardware.”
A journey over a decade in the making, Chris has spent his tenure under the What So Not moniker forging his fresh take on electronic music into new and staggering stratospheres. Already in command of 57+ million streams worldwide for his debut album Not All The Beautiful Things, Chris has previously scooped up an AIR Award for Best Independent Dance, Electronica or Club Single, appeared as triple j’s Feature Album, hit #8 on the Billboard Top Dance/Electronic albums, while also remixing and working alongside the likes of Run The Jewels, Skrillex, Toto, Jagwar Ma, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Winona Oak, Daniel Johns, Slumberjack, Major Lazer, Peking Duk, Tkay Maidza and countless others. Chris’ sharp melodic know-how coupled with his knack for thunderous percussion, hypnotic textures and supercharged riffs results in assorted modern, nostalgic and catchy delights that has also seen him in demand live onstage, including appearances at Coachella, Lollapalooza and Ultra Music Festival.
But it’s not just music that Chris is revolutionising with his brand-new album out in the world today, with an exciting underlying project in the works ready to bring Anomaly to even more vivid heights, as Chris reveals, “The album is actually the score of a 3D animated film i’ve been developing the last three years. There’s been a taste of it through the DMA’s clip, the EVAN GIIA clip and some of the visualisers too. I’ve been building an entire universe and I’m excited to have people quite literally be able to step into that in the not-too-distant future. I’m creating a show that I’m not sure anyone has really done yet. That will start to come to fruition probably within the next six months”.
With the long-awaited release of Anomaly today, the future of electronic and Australian music looks vivaciously bright, with Chris delivering a knockout opus. Meticulously curated and designed to ignite the senses, the soul and every pair of dancing shoes on the planet, Anomaly also vigorously declares a lust for life entirely impossible to resist, as Chris concludes, “I think that Anomaly has the strongest songs that I’ve ever created. This album is a new lease on life for me, it is confident, it is passionate, it is highly energetic. On my last album I was in a very sad place, and that was me processing and dealing with that, whereas with Anomaly I’m coming at it ferociously excited about life and about dance music and about the amazing cultures that I’ve been invited into around the world. And on this one, I got to work with friends and be inspired by the things around me to create these sounds and ideas that you hear on this record”.
Anomaly is out today, Friday September 16.
What So Not on tour:
Sat Sept 17 - Brooklyn, NY - Anomaly Album Release Party
Sept 23-24 - Bandar Lampung, ID - Manana Tropical Festival
Oct 20 - Amsterdam, NL - Melkweg
Oct 29 - Toulouse, FR - Le Rex de Toulouse
Nov 5 - Tallinn, EE - Club Studio
Nov 10 - Brooklyn NY - Colour Factory
Nov 11 - Berlin, DE - Gretchen
Nov 12 - Barcelona, ES - Razzmatazz
Nov 17 - Madrid, ES - ANTIDOTO CLUB
Nov 18 - Tilburg, NL - Poppodium 013
Nov 19 - Budapest, HU - Akvarium
WHAT SO NOT - ANOMALY TRACKLIST
1. Alive
2. Anomaly (Feat. AY AY)
3. Mr Regular (Feat. Oliver Tree & Killer Mike)
4. The Change (Feat. DMA'S)
5. Halifax (Feat. Phi11a, Zoid Land & Tek Genesis)
6. On Air (Feat. Louis The Child, Captain Cuts & JRM)
7. Messin' Me Up (Feat. EVAN GIIA)
8. Bad Piano (Feat. Body Ocean & Lucy Lucy)
9. Mercy (2022 Edit) (Feat. MØ)
10. Black Shallow (Feat. Enschway)
11. As One (Feat. Herizen)
What So Not Social:
Facebook: https://found.ee/wsn-fb
Instagram: https://found.ee/wsn-ig
Twitter: https://found.ee/wsn-tw
TikTok: https://found.ee/wsn-tt
Website: https://found.ee/wsn-ws |
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