Kasbo - The Learning of Urgency (2024)

Inspired electronic music extraordinaire Kasbo announces his first new body of work in four years, The Learning of Urgency. The project is Kasbo’s third studio album to date and will arrive via ODESZA’s revered Foreign Family Collective label on June 7. Along with the news comes two brand new singles, “Drift” and “Atlantis,” the latter featuring Shallou and Swedish singer BJOERN.

For Kasbo, The Learning Of Urgency is an extremely important concept. The songwriting orbits around slowing down, as the past few years of his life have been ridden with a sense of acute pressure, manifesting into a subconscious compulsion to constantly achieve and do more. The result nearly cost him his career, as he developed rare, stress-related hearing loss. The natural slowdown of the pandemic put these stressors into perspective, and through addressing them, he was able to get back on track, personally and professionally, and write this new album. He’s ready to unveil his most meaningful work to date. Previewing The Learning Of Urgency with two new singles, “Drift” and “Atlantis,” Kasbo himself elaborates on how the aquatic nature of these two tracks ties into the album concept:

“My new album is inspired by the feeling of being submerged in water. Underwater, the world moves slowly, sounds fade, and there's this feeling of stillness. To me, there was this direct relation to being on a stormy ocean surface, trying desperately to keep your head above water. Whereas the world beneath the surface represented this stillness where you allowed yourself to move at a slower pace and appreciate the beauty of things around you. And sure, as much as you need to move forward and build something in life, you also need to swim up to the surface and take that next breath. I think it's important not to let that thought consume us and prevent us from appreciating those moments of tranquility underwater.” — Kasbo

Four years in the making, Kasbo recorded The Learning of Urgency largely while living in Gothenburg and Stockholm. He had the opportunity to work in the storied, ABBA-owned recording studio Riksmixningsverket (RMV), located on the island of Skeppsholmen in Stockholm. The studio is housed in a 150-year-old naval warehouse that was once operated by the Swedish Royal Navy.
Both singles, “Drift” and “Atlantis,” reflect Kasbo’s newfound reverence for euphoric club music. Ever a creative mind, for Kasbo, the past years of isolation were quick to transform into an era of curiosity and introspection. Time spent off the road and at home in Sweden galvanized him to turn to what he knew best—music. He found solace in honing in his DJing and sharing music with his friends, bonding over nostalgic memories and music that encouraged them to keep it moving, even during this time spent away from the dancefloor. Months spent away from touring the world transformed into an invaluable period of deep diving into a newfound realm of music.