Maps Announces Counter Melodies, Shares 5 New Tracks

MAPS LAUNCHES HIS NEW ALBUM AND SHARES THE FIRST FIVE TRACKS   LISTEN TO THE FIRST SINGLE, HEYA YAHA   COUNTER MELODIES - OUT 10 FEB 2023

Photo Credit: Steve Gullick

Maps – aka James Chapman – has shared the first single, ‘Heya Yaha’ alongside four new tracks from his fifth studio album release, Counter Melodies. The new album, due out on Mute on February 10, 2023, features the fastest, most intensely euphoric pieces that Chapman has ever produced.   “I've always used music as a way of escape,” explains Chapman, “When I sit down and put my headphones on, I am able to go somewhere else.” The new 10-track album, the follow up to 2019’s Colours. Reflect. Time. Loss., is an upbeat and uplifting escape from the dystopian news flow.   Maps’ fastest and most rhythmic release launches today with first single, ‘Heya Yaha’, where, after a brief burst of rapturous vocal, the joyous groove takes over.   Listen to the track here: https://youtu.be/dHGyWC4qySM   From the opening chiming bell of ‘Witchy Feel’, the first five tracks frame the album with a nod towards club music that was never fully evident before. “My early days of soaking up club culture obviously stayed with me,” reminisces Chapman.   Initial ideas for Counter Melodies began to form in the wake of Colours. Reflect. Time. Loss. Chapman chose not to tour the album beyond a few shows, instead he found himself DJing a lot towards the end of 2019 “I was enjoying making my own tracks and playing them in my DJ sets,” he says. “It’s like a comedian trying out new material. I really liked the idea of tracks flowing into one another, like a continuous DJ set. As soon as that idea was in my head, I just worked really hard to make it happen.”   Listen to the first five tracks https://mute.ffm.to/maps_cm   Counter Melodies – Part 1 Witchy Feel Heya Yaha Thru Lights Psyche Windows Open   While Counter Melodies sounds totally unique in the Maps catalogue, there is something about its presentation and tonality that makes it instantly recognisable as Maps. What Chapman has achieved with Counter Melodies is a new adventure through the familiar emotional terrain of the Maps sound, while also transporting you to more resolutely optimistic and hopeful places.   Maps’ Counter Melodies is out on February 10, 2023 on vinyl (limited edition white vinyl comes with signed and numbered art print), CD and digitally: https://mute.ffm.to/maps_cm Counter Melodies album tracklisting Witchy Feel Heya Yaha Thru Lights Psyche Windows Open Transmission Lack Of Sleep Valentine Fever Dream My Love Is Like   Pre-order: https://mute.ffm.to/maps_cm   Maps - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Web MUTE: WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM