Doing something different: Introducing – Morpheme Records

For quite some time now we’ve had a hankering for something, an eagerness to do something more than just write about music but to support bands in other ways. We’ve dabbled with gig promotion but the one thing that we always thought we be a lot of fun and exciting, would be to set up a record label. It’s an idea we’ve played around with for quite some time if we’re honest but it was only late last year when we finally thought, ‘yeah, let’s do it’.

And so Morpheme Records is born.

We want to use it to support artists we love beyond just posting about them and getting them on to Hype Machine. So it stands to reason that our first artist is one we have loved and supported for a while now (and it helps that he’s a local lad) Harry Edwards. We first encountered Harry in the summer of 2013 and by the autumn we’d played him on Amazing Radio and asked him to play our stage at Norwich Sound & Vision festival. He told us his live set up needed more work before he could join us but then, about a year later, we saw his first ever gig and were even more blown away. It was then that we knew the label was on the way and that Harry would be our first artist.

His most recent release, and the first to be taken from his forthcoming EP, “Almost Everybody” (stream below) is a fascinating and exciting amalgamation of styles and genres. It moves like a dream, effortlessly from one seemingly unconnected place to another, soulful electronica bleeds into dark hip-hop beats, to sparse galaxial synths and on to sharp, spikey judders of sound, back to hip hop all the time slipping in momentary glimpses of a fragile piano ballad.

Musical experimentation is something he excels at. Previous tracks include the superb ”Lesser”, which sounds like the biologically impossible progeny of a glorious one night ménage á trois between Frank Ocean, James Blake and Justin Timberlake is dark and hypnotic, music for the late night and the underground club where the magic happens. He’s also released the gloriously atmospheric and soft ”The Only Thing You See” which was featured as Lauren Laverne’s Headphone Moment recently.

For our second artist we went a little bit further afield; well a lot further afield actually, to Australia. Harry introduced us to Sydney based MK Grands and we instantly knew we wanted him to join the fold. Producer – songwriter Dan Cartisano’s brand new track (released today – stream below) “Visionary IX” is a stupefying composition of brooding atmospheric electronica. It begins with very Battlestar Galactica-esque chimes (the new, excellent version) that are echoed throughout. In fact, it’s a bit like walking through the deserted hold of a giant sci-fi spaceship as the melody and crushed digital beats unfurl before you. The synths and electronic cascades and flourishes are like the exploration of this vast deserted craft, all shiny metal and dark shadows.

We’re extremely excited about this new venture and genuinely believe the artists we are working with are exceptional talents. We hope you agree and look forward to sharing the fun of the journey, and some superb new music, with you along the way.

Stalk Harry Edwards: Facebook / Twitter

Stalk MK Grands: Website / Facebook / Twitter

Stalk Morpheme Records: Twitter