The move shook him out of a creative rut: “Coming here and doing fuck all made it possible to unblock whatever was going on”. “I just need the space and the peace and quiet,” he told NME of the move in a recent interview for our In Conversation video series, explaining that the chilled lifestyle, where he could live among local wildlife, ended up being extremely conducive to his process. Inspired by the natural world, the project was first started in LA, but finished in his native Australia, where he decamped as the COVID-19 pandemic began. Third record ‘Palaces’ sees this sound infused with something more, though. READ MORE: Five things we learned from our In Conversation video chat with Flume He’s known for left-field sounds that ping with electricity tracks that are meant to be heard on big, bassy festival sound systems in the early hours of the morning. For the past decade the artist – real name Harley Streten – has crafted fluorescent tunes that have won him a Grammy (second album ‘Skin’ took the trophy for Best Dance/Electronic Album at the 2017 ceremony) and helped him sell out venues across the globe. And it just felt like a sanctuary.Flume has perfected his own brand of wonky electronic music. Going home-all that room, the simple life, it just gave me the space to create. I was having a bit of trouble with music in the States. That’s where the record really came together. “I’d gone home to Australia, started life in the countryside and felt like I’d found my palace. In fact, the album name was inspired by the solace he felt after leaving LA. But he can’t overstate how important his choice was to move home, to take a break. “Now, I’ve got a really nice balance between LA and Australia, two ends of the spectrum,” he says. Much like how his music darts from intense to meditative, hard-hitting to mellow, he’s realised his life, too, is all about equilibrium. I was fucking nervous.”Ī decade since his debut album, Streten has found his stride. “Working with him, it was cool,” Streten says. It starts with field recordings from around Streten’s property, and slowly builds, rhythm and ambient chords billowing out behind Damon Albarn’s vocals. There’s a lot of hard stuff, so it’s nice to have some really mellow, warm feelings.” And the closing track concludes the album in a gorgeous, atmospheric manner. It feels like a nice contrast in the record. But I then felt like it took away from the beauty of it, so I stripped it all the way back and just had it as this ambient piano piece. “That was originally a house track,” Streten reveals. “It can go from zero to 100 and then back to zero,” he says of his music’s sudden hairpin turns and mood swings.īut there are plenty of soft, ruminative moments here, too, such as ambient centrepiece “Jasper’s Song”, featuring pianist Jasper Harris. Meanwhile, Spanish DJ and producer Virgen Maria evokes playful sexuality with her vocal contributions on “Only Fans”. Streten’s trademark head rush of textures is still well-represented on the skittering “ESCAPE” (featuring longtime collaborator Kučka), “Hollow” (featuring Emma Louise) and “Say Nothing” (featuring MAY-A)-all proof of his continuing expertise when it comes to big, emotive pop.
It would be really lovely to be able to just wave a wand and end all suffering.’” The song is like, ‘I wish I could start world peace. “Caroline was in lockdown at the time in London and she was hearing all the sirens outside. “I’m really proud of that song,” Streten says. There’s a healthy array of collaborators, including Caroline Polachek, who sings on the cinematic “Sirens”. The sounds and style Streten is known for flings itself into new places, big and small, heavy and tender. Then COVID happened, and I had two years to just be a normal human. When I was 19, I started touring and it just didn’t stop. “I got on this train, it started speeding up and getting faster and faster. “This time has been really good for me, mentally-it’s just really given me a chance to slow down,” he says. The next few years were packed with touring-until the pandemic hit.
His 2016 release, Skin, was built on the warped, unique production style he’d become known for and earned him his first Grammy. The producer’s first two albums propelled him from Sydney’s nightclubs to festival stages around the world. It’s here that he set up a new studio and got to work on the pieces that would become his third album, Palaces. I have a snake that lives in my roof that sometimes crawls down to my front door.” It’s about as far removed as you can get from the bustle and drama of the city that placed him into “not in a particularly productive space or good space”.
“I’ve got property, I live on an acreage, I just live a simple life,” he tells Apple Music. He moved to Byron Bay in Northern NSW and set up a new, quieter life for himself. After the pandemic hit, Harley Streten left his adopted home, LA, for his real one, Australia.
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