Estère reveals new track & video 'Control Freak'
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Opening with an army of propulsive rhythmic strikes before the attention is stolen by an exuberant synth solo, 'Control Freak' is Estère's latest track - born out of her love of percussion and an innate desire to explore the many different sides of 'control'.
Now the Wellingtonian producer and performing artist shares the new track with the world. Written, recorded and produced by Estère, and mixed by Simon Gooding, the new song sets out to explore how control can be given and taken away. If someone has something you want, what are you willing to do in order to get it?
The lightning hot track comes from Estere's forthcoming mini-album My Design, due out digitally on October 13th via DRM NZ and available for pre-order today. My Design is part one of an interconnected body of work, due to be released in March as a two-part album called My Design, On Others' Lives.
Her previous single 'Pro Bono Techno Zone' (see her RNZ live session here) marked the Empress of Electric Blue Witch-hop's timely return. The girl with the MPC is back.
About My Design / On Others' Lives:
“I’ve always been fascinated by other people. But there was a period in my life where I went a little crazy. I was coping with a variety of stresses and there was a traumatic incident that left me feeling disconnected and literally out of my body for a couple of months. I was really terrified I was going to stay feeling like that forever. But during that period of detachment from myself it was like I became more connected to other things. I read a list of autobiographies and philosophy books, I experienced the world differently and after coming out of that state - I became terminally interested in the live’s of other’s.” - Estère
Breaking conventional barriers is a pivotal element in Estère’s two-part, sophomore album My Design, On Other’s Lives. She didn't want anyone else to record or produce it and she didn’t want to write songs about love (except to her Grandmother).
Recorded at her home studio in a suburban 40’s Wellington villa, Estère’s production paints a canvas of unique juxtaposition. Citing the meaty side of electronic music with succulent bass and weighty drums then contrasting it with warm acoustic textures paired with the ethereal side of pop/jazz melodies, it’s clear why Estère stands apart in her own genre, Electric Blue Witch-Hop.
With her obsessive interest in collecting and recording samples, a plethora of original sonic sprinklings can be found on every song off the album. The backdrop to Vietnam is the hiss and sway of Bamboo trees Estère recorded in Tam Coc (Vietnam), whilst the sound of her Mum’s vintage telephone punches the chorus in Rent.
Part of what really makes My Design, On Other’s Lives stand alone, is Estère’s devotion to breaking the mould. The songs off the album escape popular music'slimited scape of ‘personal dilemma’, to conjure meaningful narratives about; displaced refugees, kids obsessed with technology, underwater/whale wisdom, controlling urges and calling out colonisation (to name some).
Estère
My Design, Part 1
1. Vietnam
2. Control Freak
3. Grandmother
4. Pro Bono Techno Zone
5. Jelly Fish Stings
6. Ambition