Norwegian electronic duo Lemaitre’s newest EP, 1749, is released today via Astralwerks. The five-track collection premiered in its entirety on Consequence of Sound yesterday. The site praised 1749 saying, “Ulrik Denizou Lund and Ketil Jansen live entirely in the present, crafting tunes that layer synths on top of horns on top of metronomic beats.” 1749 is available for purchase on iTunes HERE and streaming on Spotify HERE. Limited edition Lemaitre skate decks and a special lithograph with an accompanying marker set are now available through the band’s website at lemaitrestore.com, where 1749 can also be purchased.
1749 brims with pop gems sung by Ulrik Denizou Lund. “Not Too Late” and “Day Two” both have a bright ’70s-pop feel even as Lund and Ketil Jansen’s tones and beats live definitively in the post-EDM present. “Stepping Stone” featuring the newest member of Skrillex’s OWSLA imprint, vocalist Mark Johns, is a lean groove with a sing-along chorus. The track premiered on Stereogum, who describes it as “An aggressively catchy groove, the kind that wrestles its way into rearranging the rhythm of your heartbeat for a few minutes.” Lemaitre also makes smart use of guest vocalist Jennie A on “Closer,” the band’s fastest growing single with nearly 10 million streams to date. The video for “Closer was directed by Johannes Greve Muskat and pays homage to the great American film director, Wes Anderson. On the tropical-leaning anime-videogame fantasia “Nishio 2” featuring producer Giraffage, This Song Is Sick proclaims the collaboration track is “Adorned with dazzling sounds and catchy lyrics pitched at different notes with each word, Lemaitre and Giraffage harness a variety of refreshing sounds to create a fluorescent journey of a song.”
1749 is not only the title of the duo’s forthcoming EP; it’s also the address of their Los Angeles home and studio. The band says, “1749 is our home address and the title of our EP, but it’s more than that. 1749 represents the journey we’ve made and the process of creating music in our home away from home. We live with our video director, manager and our friend Sebastian “Coucheron,” who also makes music. We all moved together from Norway to chase the dream of making music and living in LA. It’s kind of like the TV-show Entourage except without all the money, ladies, and fancy parties.”
Earlier this month, Lemaitre announced that they will make their Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival debut in April. The duo is also performing at San Francisco’s Social Hall tonight, with special support from starRo. At Lemaitre’s shows, the imaginative arrangements are further fleshed-out thanks to a live drummer. “We always really liked the aesthetic and the feel of drummers onstage,” Jansen says. “It immediately feels more energetic.”
Credit: Johannes Greve Muskat
GET 1749 ON iTUNES:
GET 1749 ON SPOTIFY:
1749 EP Track List
1. Not Too Late
2. Stepping Stone feat. Mark Johns
3. Closer feat. Jennie A
4. Day Two
5. Nishio 2 feat. Giraffage
Lemaitre 2016 U.S. Tour Dates:
January 29 San Francisco, CA Social Hall **with support from starRo
April 15 Indio, CA Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
April 22 Indio, CA Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
About Lemaitre:
Lemaitre are Norway’s latest entry into the smooth, melodic electronic tradition of artists who temper their electronic grooves with adept pop songwriting. “We want to walk the line,” explains Ulrik Denizou Lund, who along with Ketil Jansen is Lemaitre, “and do everything from a loop-based song to straight pop or rock songs that have more structure.” Lemaitre have more than a million followers on SoundCloud, and the duo’s 2012 EP, Relativity 2, shot to No. 1 on the iTunes Electronic chart in the U.S. and Canada. They number among their fans some of dance music’s biggest artists – Porter Robinson, Madeon, Kygo, and Martin Solveig to name a few. Robinson took them on tour last summer. Lemaitre’s music is finding outlets beyond the dance floor as well. In September 2013, their song “1:18,” from The Friendly Sound EP, was used as a synch in an ad for the Apple iPhone 5C. (View the commercial here.)
Lemaitre are currently residing in Los Angeles, hunkered down in their home studio putting the finishing touches on their upcoming seventh studio EP, due early 2016.
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