Clubland is filled with duos, sometimes they grew up sharing bunk beds, sometimes they met on a dancefloor, or sometimes, as with Lord Fascinator & Kate Stein, they met on a tropical island after one had commissioned the other to create several giant monsters for a music video. Fast forward through ten years of costumes, chemicals, religious art projects and “Mad Max yoga retreats,”and they have finally cemented their relationship in the studio with their ‘Primary’ EP – 4 tracks of psychedelic synth-pop, cowboy disco, and cosmically inclined iridescent electronica.
Living in LA in 2022, where they found themselves sharing a crumbling castle turret, the EP started to take shape when Kate – the aforementioned monster maker and now up & coming DJ and producer – shared her latest demos with Lord Fascinator. Aided and abetted by both the musical ghosts of Laurel Canyon and a regular supply of caffeine, the pair began to craft these demos into an EP that segues from sublime synth pop odes to chemical love and intoxicating attraction through to country disco without missing a beat.
The EP kicks off with ‘Chemistry,’ a song whose spacey synth arpeggios wrap themselves around trippy house beats and a bass line that pulses like the heartbeat of a planet. It’s a third eye opener of a track, one that kicks down the doors of perception only to find a secret nightclub filled with neon smiles hidden behind and perfectly sets the playful mood for everything that follows. As it happens, what follows is the cosmically inclined synth-pop and trance inducing disco of ‘Asteroid.’ A paean to “falling in love on drugs,” ‘Asteroid’ somehow finds the hitherto unknown sweet spot between Spiritualized and Lipps Inc. and, thanks in no small part to Lord Fascinator’s celebratory chorus, blazes like its namesake across the night sky.
So far, so cosmic. What you may not have been expecting then is country-touched-club-banger ‘Horse House,’ a track that combines a galloping hypnotic house beat and pulsating synths with all manner of Morricone-esque whistles, lonesome guitar twangs, equine snorts and, of course, the repeated chant that “there’s a horse in this house.” The track may have started life as a joke but its effect on dancefloors has been anything but.
Finally, to close out the EP, there’s ‘Le Petit Martien,’ which despite its extraterrestrial title and occasional French lyrics, maintains the western vibes, cantering along at a steady 110bpm. It’s a bit like the impossible love child of say the Bad Seeds’ Red Right Hand, Serge Gainsbourg’s Bonnie and Clyde and one of Todd Terje’s more playful moments…in other words the perfect way for this free spirited EP to ride off into the sunset.
You can now listen to the full premiere of ‘Asteroid’ exclusively on When We Dip. Enjoy!
Release Date: March 21st, 2025. Buy Here
Kate Stein: Instagram // SoundCloud
Lord Fascinator: Instagram // SoundCloud
Eskimo Recordings: Instagram // SoundCloud