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‘So Good’ is the next single to see release from the forthcoming My Friends EP by Swedish producers and long-time friends, Tobtok and farfetch’d. Following in the vein of its experimental predecessor ‘I Like When You’, which received loving feedback from tastemakers ranging from Auntie Flo to Sam Divine, ‘So Good’ is an alarmingly refreshing release. Into a high-energy stutter house track it packs in a styled-up drill beat with an uplifting choir vocal, to show yet again that these producers are on the most accomplished streak of their careers so far.
Over six tracks, the forthcoming ‘My Friends’ EP – due for release on London-based indie Perfect Havoc in September – is a diverse and exciting body of work that spans disco, breakbeat, drum and bass and house in the flavours of stutter, French and filter.
With a catalogue of work that precedes them, it’s important to remove all preconceptions of what Tobtok and farfetch’d have done before. Forget their platinum-selling records, streaming numbers and chart positions, just listen to the result of when they start producing for the pure fun of it.
On their latest single, Tobtok aka Tobias Karlsson, candidly tells the story of its creative journey.
“So Good started out completely differently, like a tribalesque record with almost Spanish vibes and with me singing the lead in falsetto. It sounded so awkward that we completely changed it!
After we ditched that initial idea, we were joking around saying, let’s do a “trendy” stutter house record, but not taking ourselves remotely seriously. We upped the BPMs and created a little drill beat in the verse. We landed on a choir vocal which I think is what makes it sound so unique.
Like with the previous track, we’re not trying to sound like anything. So Good is obviously inspired by the stutter house movement, but really, we’re just having fun.”
Tobtok has always worked in his own lane, from his early nu disco signings to highly respected French label Kitsuné– who released his only EP to date, ‘Savanna’ – to his more dancefloor-geared signings to Selected as heard on ‘My Carousel’. There have been plenty of nods to the Swede’s talents over the years, from specialist spins from Pete Tong and Zane Lowe, to being asked to curate Toolroom’s Miami Poolside compilation.
Although still early on in their career farfetch’d aka Jerry Sjödin and Johnny Bergström have been making waves of their own. Taking influence from old-time childhood heroes and fusing the feelings of the past with those of today, their music spans genres and is always drenched in love and happiness. Just check out their releases on Spinnin’, Axtone and Soave for evidence.
Tobtok and farfetch’d go way back to when they first bonded over their love of nu disco and French house when meeting at a student club night and have since produced together on singles for Selected and Perfect Havoc.
Tobtok and farfetch’d have already spoken about what to expect from the new EP, where they go all out with technique, playing around with sampling, micro-sampling live sounds, and manipulating and pitching vocals.
“The concept was to do something really playful”, Tobtok explains, “We experimented with new ways of thinking. We tried not to think about what’s going to stream or what’s gonna go viral on TikTok, we just wanted to make music that we like.”
‘So Good’ by Tobtok & farfetch’d is released 21st July on Perfect Havoc. Pre-save here https://perfecthavoc.lnk.to/sogood
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