introducing.. warmest chord 01.07.
two of my favourite things, art and music, combine wonderfully to form warmest chord, a new london-based label with a seemingly new take on releasing records. or not quite, as the case may be.
limited screen-print by franz vesolt (edition of 75)
warmest chord’s first release comes in the form of evertide, an ep by jack tatum’s dream-pop project wild nothing, with three songs you won’t find on his beautiful debut lp gemini.
embracing today’s digital age, the label has done away with cds and vinyl and release their first ep strictly digitally with a plan to follow this model for future releases. but, because everybody loves something physical, each release comes with a limited art print designed by an independent illustrator as a personal response to the music. it’s a lovely harmony, and they’ve clearly got a niche, with franz vesolt’s phosphorescent screen-print for wild nothing’s evertide ep selling out in less than a week. hardly out-of-touch as some begrudged vinyl fans might have it; in fact, warmest chord is run by folks from rough trade and make mine records..
it’s all very simple, really, blending the boundaries between art forms is nothing new. i mean, how many people buy vinyl for the artwork? but, when you consider all of the costs that go into a vinyl release, warmest chord’s way of doing things makes sense. many small, independent labels come and go because they’ve banked on a big vinyl release that’s flopped. far from wanting to get into an intellectual debate on the merits of different mediums, i just think it’s clever to put the music first and not what format it comes on, and if mp3s are today’s cheapest and most accessible form then why not champion them?
evertide by wild nothing on warmest chord
the soundtrack to my summer so far, wild nothing’s debut gemini and its hoard of dreamy melodies and enchanting instrumentation is one of the nicest records you’ll get into anytime soon. and, if ever there was a more apt name for a label releasing songs by jack tatum, warmest chord have made available three previously unreleased tracks. ‘your rabbit feet’, ‘golden haze’ and ‘take me in’ are as sublime as any of the songs on gemini, anything but b-sides, and you wonder why they didn’t make the album in the first place. too much of a good thing in one go, perhaps.
as planned for all their releases, warmest chord are making two of the tracks on the ep available to buy for a frightfully cheap 50p/$0.75 each, with the third track available exclusively as part of the art-print package. (mind, i’ve just bought the two track digital package, having missed out on the sold-out prints, and i found the third track in my download too. a nice surprise..)
more info on this exciting new label can be found on their website, and you can follow them on both tumblr and twitter.
check out an interview with wild nothing’s jack tatum too.
evertide by wild nothing, available to buy now.
catch wild nothing at the brudenell social club on 27th july.