Hello Beautiful, the pseudonym used by Cape Town-based producer Matthieu Auriacombe (bassist for bands Beach Party and Kidofdoom), has been working on the new album for the last eight months, which comprises new material as well as old ideas reworked into new songs. He composed, recorded and programmed the songs from the album in his own studio, whilst recording the vocals at Phillip Kramer and Fred den Hartog's studios, respectively. Final mixing and mastering of the album was done by Peach van Pletzen.
"I have this dying love for anything coming out of the 1980s, but I've also been inspired for this album by landscapes, big spaces and the galaxy as you might hear in the instrumental tracks. I'm a massive Sci-Fi fan, so when I watch a Sci-Fi movie, I just want to make music to it."
'Hello Beautiful' features three collaborations with other artists as vocalists on the album: Harmony Boucher from Vuvuvultures features on Hello Beautiful, Andrew Davenport from aKing and Thieve features on Us, and Nicholas Preen from Al Bairre features on I'll Be The Boy. "When I heard Harmony was going to be in South Africa on tour with Vuvuvultures earlier this year, I couldn't let this opportunity slide and we recorded the track together. I've also always wanted to do a track with Andrew and Nick, so the timing was perfect for this album and they were all keen. I couldn't be happier with how the tracks came out."
Since the release of his previous EP, Hello Beautiful has moulded his writing process and shifted his sound into a simpler approach. The album features more instrumental tracks than the EP, but is definitely still synth driven with a lot of colourful melodies.
"I feel this album is my best work to date - it's like a hint of what's to come in the future with regards to my instrumental tracks. The album preferably has to be listened to from the start to end. It's a journey, it tells a story."
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