Photo Credit: Zamar Velez
Pioneering producer, DJ, designer and label head Vegyn – real name Joseph Thornalley – presents his latest solo album, The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions due for release on his own label, PLZ Make It Ruins, out April 5th. Today, he shares a new single and video “The Path Less Travelled”, out now.
“The Path Less Travelled’ is an evocative and nostalgic piece of vintage sounding electronica with skittering beat and garbled tape delay trails. The accompanying Joshua Gordon directed video is an absorbingly grainy and lo-fi affair.
The Road To Hell…emerged from a space of free-flowing experimentation. Often travelling as part of his work as a producer and label boss, Thornalley wrote the new songs across studios, living rooms, and hotel rooms worldwide. The result is his most accomplished and cohesive body of work to date and features John Glacier, Matt Maltese, Léa Sen, Lauren Auder & Ethan P. Flynn.
The album title, like all Vegyn titles, is shrouded in ambiguity. Joe became intrigued by the common phrase when he started contemplating what it actually means: “Is it like, ‘by doing the right thing, you actually make more problems’? Or is that ‘the idea in your mind of doing good serves no purpose – you have to actually do it’?” Whatever it means, he muses, it’s a phrase that captures the split between intentions and actions.
On this latest album, Vegyn’s trademark flourishes and BPM fluctuations take a backseat to the melody and song structure. Still, there are plenty of sardonic and nostalgic moments that make a Vegyn record instantly recognisable. Most notably the radio-style stings, which interject periodically throughout the record. Each one gives the record a distinctly Vegyn feel. “I think the thing that’s pertinent through all my work is a sort of happy melancholia,”
This happy-melancholic balance is demonstrated on single “Halo Flip”; a restless, shuffling declaration of unconditional love, with echoes of grunge featuring Lauren Auder’s vocals, over a rush of strings and cymbals. It’s a warm hug of a song, looping its offer of solace and comfort – and yet, there’s a ragged, tired edge to its optimism.
“In The Front”, an elegiac track that features a monologue from London artist and genuine rising star John Glacier over a bed of mournful, occasionally discordant strings. John’s deadpan delivery and steadfastness masking her real emotions. The song’s outro draws a parallel between laughing and crying: two extremes that occupy different sides of the same coin.
Joe adds “by just experimenting consistently, I’ve started to develop my own way of expressing what it is I’m looking for. I just try to look for the emotional resonance.”
The record is peppered with the voices of experimental contemporaries, including the British singer-songwriter Ethan P. Flynn, avant-garde producer Loraine James, and grunge duo Double Virgo. “I like working with other people as it’s the best way to let each other’s strengths shine through,” reflects Joe. “You get to sit back and think a little bit more objectively about what someone else might want, and that can greatly help to solidify what it is you want, too.”
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Joe adds “by just experimenting consistently, I’ve started to develop my own way of expressing what it is I’m looking for. I just try to look for the emotional resonance.”
Vegyn’s shape-shifting musical output as a solo artist has so far tended to fall into extremes; partly known for his excess, working tirelessly with some of the world’s biggest rap and R&B artists, and unleashing mixtapes of 70+ tracks. This record is the culmination of many years’ experience and refinement and is the sound of an artist truly at the top of his game.
LISTEN TO AND WATCH “THE PATH LESS TRAVELED”
https://plz.ffm.to/thepathlesstravelled
LISTEN TO AND WATCH “HALO FLIP”
https://plz.ffm.to/haloflip
LISTEN TO AND WATCH “MAKESHIFT TOURNIQUET”
https://plz.ffm.to/makeshifttourniquet
PRE-ORDER THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS
https://plz.ffm.to/theroadtohell
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