Last year, Tale Of Us introduced fans to a talented young artist who’s now making waves in the melodic tech space. Colyn first emerged when the Italian duo began regularly playing his music in their sets, stirring up curiosity among listeners. Since then, his music has caught the attention of other heavyweights like Solomun, Adriatique, Damian Lazarus, Stephan Bodzin, Mind Against, and RÜFÜS DU SOL, who recently signed him to their imprint, Rose Avenue.
Earlier this month, Colyn’s single “It’s All Over” made its way onto Afterlife’s exploding Unity compilation. All profits from the 31-track package will be donated to help fight Coronavirus in Lombardy, Italy – one of the most heavily-affected areas. Earlier in February, Colyn released his fourth EP Concepts of Love. Despite only consisting of two tracks, it bears the sonic maturity of a full-length album. Last Friday, April 17th, he shared his latest release “The Future Is The Past” on DGTL Records, which charted #1 on the Indie Dance Chart on Beatport in only two days, another testament to his refined production abilities.
We invited him to share a playlist of all the tracks that are inspiring him creatively and keeping him motivated during the quarantine. His eclectic picks include the likes of Rival Consoles, David August, Artefakt, and more below.
Rival Consoles – Them Is Us
Besides this being a super inspirational song to me as a producer, it is also a meditative trip that allows me to reflect, to pause the world for a good 5 minutes. The use of textures and subtle melodic progressions is what gets me everytime.
Patrick Watson – Broken
I’m a big fan of Patrick Watson, have been lucky enough to see him live in my hometown Amsterdam. Broken is quite a sad song, but so so beautiful. Melancholy hits me everytime I listen to this.
Bon Iver – Holy Fields
Bon Iver’s newest album is definitely an attempt to push boundaries. For me Holyfields is a perfectly elegant rendition of the combination between indie-pop and more abstract electronica. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver stated that the lyrics of the chorus are about acceptation of difficult subjects, like accepting and facing the problem of climate change we face as a society today. Most of all it’s about self improvement.
Artefakt – Levity
Levity is an inspiring electronica song by Artefakt. When I listen to this song on noise-cancelling headphones and close my eyes, it feels like I’m entering the future. It has a small portion that feels a bit alien, but that small portion is surrounded by amazing harmonic work. All in all a really cool introspective song.
Donato Dozzy – 12H.5 (Remix)
I guess this is one of the songs that can really calm me down when I’m stressed out or when I’m feeling rushed. These days I can only imagine hearing this song during a beautiful sunset at a remote location, wow that would be awesome.
Pulse – Showdown
Probably the most uplifting song of the entire list. It’s one of the songs that I have played on really special occasions. When the night has been magical and there is the option to play one more song after the music has stopped, this is one of my favourites. Sends everyone, including me, home with a smile.
Plaid – Do Matter
What grips me about this song is the constant tension that it has. The bassline with the drone-like pads in the background have me engaged from start to finish. Plaid is a super cool artist to check out in general, they’ve been doing interesting music for decades.
Royksopp – Sordid Affair (Maceo Plex Remix)
A song that has never bored me since it has been released. I remember the first time I heard this at DGTL festival in Amsterdam when I was there as a visitor… pure emotions. One of the gems Maceo has made over the year that I won’t forget anytime soon.
Ry X – Deliverance
Another one of my favourite artists to listen to when I’m cooling down from a studio session or when I’m just relaxing in general. The moment when the chorus of the song kicks in and the layered vocals of Ry X kick in always gives me goosebumps.
David August – Epikur
One of the masterpieces of David August. It’s been released quite a while ago but it’s still on rotation quite frequently. Harmonically this song is super interesting to me. It sounds epic, yet intimate at the same time. Which is not easy to achieve.