Barbarossa - Love Here Listen (2021)

Swimming in the inky blackness of the North Sea near his home on the coast of South East England gives Barbarossa aka James Mathé the out of body jolt that he needs to get things aligned, shed the superfluous and focus on the nitty gritty. You can see him there most days through the rain or shine, the darkness and cold somehow stripping away layers of calcified thought and allowing Mathé to ask the real questions and deal with personal trauma and stress. The swims informed much of what can be heard on 'Love Here Listen', his 2021 album. Mathé collaborated with producer du jour Ghost Culture on the release at his studio in Margate. The pair worked with a limited range of vintage synths - a Mono Poly, Korg MS-20 a Roland SH-101 and a Juno 108 borrowed from the local skate store Palm Bay Skates - with the recordings bounced down to Mathé's Fostex R8 reel to reel to give it that undeniable warmth.