Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/monokino/your-underground/s-DF9OHQNpg4W
Spotify: https://show.co/JezvqLX
Monokino shares his new cross-genre single “Your Underground,” an edgy track with a hyperpop/alt rock flavor. The gritty, electric track explores Monokino’s pent up frustrations towards the music industry and his feelings of anxiety, angst, and imposter syndrome within the so-called “underground scene”. Opening with a majestic choir of synths and harmonies, the song quickly dives into an 8-bit style sampled beat, punctuated by wailing guitars – complete with pulsing bass, electrowave textures, and rapid fire lyricism. Simultaneously cathartic and energetic, you could imagine “Your Underground” pulsing from the depths of a grungey basement rave. The breathless music is the perfect platform for Monokino to experiment with his vocals, effortlessly undulating from falsetto and baritone and back again.
On the track, Monokino shares: “‘Your Underground’ goes a bit further in the sense that now an entire (music) scene is trying to proclaim what is right or wrong. Although the industry is seen by some as more democratic (‘everyone can be an artist, just upload a song, create your own scene’), that scene is valued by a system that is very similar to how everything used to be: new music is promoted and liked through the lens of a Spotify playlist and its streams measure its importance.”
Dutch artist George van Wetering, AKA Monokino, has continued to develop his chameleonic approach to music and art. His music slips and slides between sonic pallettes and tropes, transcending genre and creating an entirely new sonic landscape of its own. Hailed as “a free spirit that finds harmony with disparate elements and a pattern without a formula” Monokino’s uniquely rock/pop has already struck a chord with audiences across the globe. His music has been released by labels in the US, Europe and record company Modern Sky – a major player in the Asian music industry.
Signed to Zip Records in the Netherlands, Monokino’s international reach has seen his works released by China’s largest independent music label Modern Sky. Combining his time between Nanjing, Shanghai and Amsterdam, his new work has already gained support from a diverse range of tastemakers including Janice Long on BBC Radio.
Your Underground is out on 30th June 2021 via Zip Records.
“If Adam Curtis made music instead of documentaries Monokino would be the sound. The music is suitably odd and unnerving with little solid ground to feel steady on but the sonic journey is an unforgettable one.” – Yack Magazine
“With Monokino being described as an odd/pop – rock composer I felt the eyebrow begin rise and meet the furrowed brow. Oh joy one of those avant garde types that makes noise but has no intrinsic merit whatsoever. I was wrong. Utterly…. A musical venture with a salient point that’s actually worth listening to.” – Faultline
“Magical electro-pop and baroque fusion… cement[s] the rise of Monokino’s status as a major act in 2021’s music scene.” – Vents Magazine
“Ripe and unhinged, [Monokino’s songs] moved back and forth from drum machines to live drums and keyboards to electric guitar, all awash with endless effects” – Culture Collide
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