Bloodflows (12'' Single)

First appearing late last year, SOHN (pronounced Sonn) has wasted no time in making a name for himself, both on record and live. Having escaped the lonely nighttime streets of London for the mountainous landscapes of Austria the previous year, SOHN's distinctive sound emerged naturally as he found inspiration in the contrasts between the two places he has called home. Considered and emotive, the results are astounding. Informed by Vienna’s rich legacy of electronic music, SOHN creates a sound that blends his haunting vocals with a backdrop of analogue drum machines and synths, which makes nods to the past, but always forges forward into the new. Aside from emphasising the soulfulness of his voice, his lyrics expertly play with the phonetics of language, wrapping his sonorous vocals around the gaps between sentences and lending those words more prominence. ‘Bloodflows’, a track that first appeared online last month ahead of his debut shows in the US, is to be his first release for 4AD. The pining refrain of “my love, my love, my love don’t love me” is set against a climactic sonic backdrop that is the perfect exercise in tension and release. The accompanying video is equally bewitching. Directed and filmed by Italian artist Christian Pitschl in the Bavarian Alps between Germany and Austria, it features Munich-based actress Nadja Langer. Explosives and smoke were by Lukas Pitschl.