EP: Mazde – Shifted Thoughts

Stoney Roads is a passionate and reliable Australian editorial organization that’s been promoting hot dance music since 2007. Today they’ve taken the next step, proudly announcing the launch of Stoney Roads Records along with the newborn label’s first release: Mazde’s Shifted Thoughts EP. Mazde, a 20 year old producer from Germany, got a big break with his remix of Disclosure’s Help Me Lose My Mind (playing off the popularity of Flume’s take on You & Me) climbing to well over a million plays. Tastefully drawing from trip-hop, house and bass influences, Mazde built up a unique and polished sound through a substantial collection of remixes and originals, and Shifted Thoughts is short but sweet proof that he has a lot to offer in the future.

Track by Track

Shifted Thoughts (feat. La Mar) – What a way to open, not only for Mazde but for the label too! La Mar’s soulful vocals are a perfect fit, and you can’t help but whistle along with the hook melody. Feel the tempo changes, how the intro and verses are all straight-eighths. We begin with a fast and steady rhythm of pulsing chords, building stable tension with the riser more and more until finally . . . the hook drops, and the tempo is thrown out the window. This hook swings, and it’s that juxtaposition with the rest of the song’s rhythm that lends it the extra oomph. Keep your ear out for the chimes in the background too.

Forest Of Gold – Dreamy, dark, and buoyant. I think this B-side captures Mazde as an artist really well — the long legato chords, the percussive textures, the vocal sampling and, of course, the creamy 808 — these are the kind of elements I’ve started to associate with his sound. He’s got a real talent when it comes to vocal splicing and dicing, and doesn’t abuse formant mods like many producers have been lately. The samples are tasteful and sit in the mix perfectly . . . you just glide along when listening to this one. Easter egg: notice he uses the same vocal sample we heard in his Disclosure remix throughout the song.

What we have here is a promising young artist paired with a promising new label, and I’m really excited to see where they both go. With a new La Mar release slated to come next on November 1st, we’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for that Stoney Roads Records logo in the future.

Check out Mazde here, and Stoney Roads Records here.