Amsterdam’s Simon van Leunen, AKA Nordfold has a family tree chock-full of Dutch professional musicians, dating back generations. Being immersed in music this way is what makes Nordfold’s music so incredible – rich, deep, instinctively knowing how to create a mood and to stir your emotions through music, as shown across his many brilliant releases on Anjunadeep and Watergate – the latter being his acclaimed collaboration with label boss Budakid on 2022’s ‘United’ EP. This makes his music perfect for Flores, a label where Budakid, his friend and long-time collaborator, is collating the best, most original electronic music, with a focus on cinematic quality soundscapes and music that makes you feel.
The titular track, ‘Goldfold’ starts with a solid 4/4 Moog modular bass kick paired with a more complex breaksy hi-hat. Nordfold lets his music breathe, giving you time to get into the rhythm, before adding a deep soulful bassline thirty seconds in. Layers of atmospheric synths stir you inside, ‘Goldfold’ emerges from its’ seed case growing up gloriously through the frost towards the sunshine. The melodic keyboard line fills you with a warm feeling in your tummy as ‘Goldfold’ blooms. Upbeat yet relaxed, exciting and calming at the same time. The soulful vocal sample only adds to this as the music pulses and swells, taking you with it on their meandering currents like a leaf on a stream,
Nordfold explains: “Goldfold existed from pure longing to the endless summer days and sunsets. I started the track during the darker and cold winter days where the musical ideas felt like a future sun kiss. I finished it in the summer. Goldfold both longs for and experiences the golden days. It’s a playful tune, flirting with breaks, old school basses and fresh progressive elements in the background.”
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Mahorka just released Passenger of the Galaxy by Surbahar‘Machine’, the second track, hits you with the sweetest broken beat. Nordfold again with the musicality to let his tracks breathe. Keyboards like staccato angels call you through Amsterdam’s St Nicholas’s Basilica towards the Sauer organ, where Nordfold is on the keys, the organ pipes pumping out the most beautiful bassline. Machine has a dreamy, 3D quality, melodic and machine synths buzzing around you like fireflies, interchanging, weaving and always adding to the vibe.
Nordfold tells us more: “With ‘Machine’ I had the intention of creating a track that can trigger positive and hopeful daydreaming. To me, it kind of feels like a guided meditation with the solo lead starting halfway through the song, taking you on a blissful trip”
Budakid adds: “Nordfold and I have known each other for a while already. I’ve always been a big fan of his music and artistic vision. I love the ‘Goldfold’ 2 tracker- uplifting, powerful with a hint of nostalgia but still Nordfold’s strong signature sound.”
Buy / Stream https://push.fm/fl/ignjwski
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