DESMOND CHEESE

Release Final Album

‘Sunrise and Set’

PLAYING NINE LIVES FESTIVAL, MARCH 2020

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“I’m imagining myself on a roadtrip cruisin’ along the cost and looking out my car-window at the vastness of the ocean”  – Majestic Casual

“Seems like the perfect backing for a Spike Lee film”  – Indie Shuffle

“Hypnotic…A lot to cheer about…clever production and interesting sampling… similarities to Air, Dimlite (and) early Bonobo” – Stamp The Wax

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Notoriously reclusive Australian lo-fi soul/electronic duo Desmond Cheese release their mesmerising final album ‘Sunrise and Set’ today, featuring single ‘I Was There ft. Ofa Fanaika’ ahead of their performance at Nine Lives Festival 2020 alongside Aldous Harding, Kevin Morby, Allah-Lahs, Julia Jacklin, Angie McMahon and more.

Desmond Cheese’s catalogue of immersive, ambient soundscapes has clocked over 15.5 million streams online, earning them acclaim and a dedicated international fanbase that includes WILLOW aka Willow Smith, who used a track from their debut album as the backing for ‘Flowers‘ (below), out via Roc Nation Records.

The product of a decade-long collaboration between producers Mak Cheese and Desmond Bagely, Desmond Cheese list influences from Zappa to Boards of Canada, Dilla to Debussy, Marley to Madlib. Their unique use of funk and jazz instrumentation, analogue production methods, lo-fi beats and eclectic samples from nature and pop culture is often playful, often soothing, and always in motion. A favourite on the alternative festival circuit, Desmond Cheese have appeared on stages at End of the Line, Strawberry Fields, Manifest, Island Vibes, Jungle Love and most recently Yonder Festival.

‘Sunrise and Set’ is a vast and hypnotic expanse created across three years in four different studios, dancing between the natural world and the synthetic with effortless grace and groove. Each track is its own winding path on a bed of gentle beats, brimming with delightful oddities and cathartic harmonies.

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Speaking on the decision to make their fourth their final album, Desmond Cheese say “I guess given our life trajectories we are unlikely to be able to commit this much time in the studio again any time soon. Maybe we will, who knows. I’m so proud of this album, and where it fits in our  limited catalogue, it just feels like a neat book-end.”

‘Sunrise and Set’ is also their first album to include official vocal features; current single ‘I Was There’ showcases the talents of Ofa Fanaika (Chocolate Strings, Captain Dreamboat), her buoyant contralto and mellifluous flow; while previous single ‘Storm’s Coming’ features smooth vocals from Roman MC. Elsewhere, the album draws from a rainforest jam with Chrome Sparks and The Kite String Tangle (which inspired ‘Magnetic’), the feeling of golden-hour rays warming through a house amongst the trees in the Australian bush (‘Afternoon Sun’), and an array of instrumentation too vast to name – including wonky archtop guitar, seagull samples, extra vocals lent by a part-time foot model, a twin neck 1973 Carvin Bass/Guitar combo, a wild flute solo, deepmind synth wobbles, wonky bass, soul clarinet, classic melodica, twinkling chymes, a harp, and more – all tied together by a relentless sense of moving forward.

“People often ask “what kind of music do you make?” and we’ve finally worked out a good answer: travelling music,”say Desmond Cheese,“Our music sounds best when you’re in motion – whether that’s moving around at a show, or travelling by foot, bike, train, water, car. We’re all travelling every day, and music just makes it better.” 

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Appearing At…

March 1 2020
Nine Lives Festival, Brisbane QLD
TICKETS

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STREAM / BUY

Desmond Cheese
Sunrise and Set

1. Morning Glory
2. Magnetic
3. Basel Bike Ride
4. Funky Number (Groovige)
5. I Was There ft. Ofa Fanaika
6. Chief Pidgeon
7. Storm’s Coming ft. Roman MC
8. Afternoon Sun
9. Canada

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AMNPLIFY – DB