Aaron Frazer will be live in Bristol aboard Thekla on Wednesday 16th October 2024.
“Into The Blue is the clearest portrait of who I am as an artist. It’s me through and through,” saysmulti-instrumentalist Aaron Frazer. A daring blend of soul, psychedelia, spaghetti western,disco, gospel and hip-hop, Into the Blue represents the impressive range of Frazer’s sonictalents. Frazer maintains the unmistakable falsetto and classic songwriting he’s known for, butplants Into the Blue firmly in the now with a hip-hop mentality at its core, weaving togethergenres and production techniques to form something new.Into The Blue was conceived, like so many classic records, out of heartbreak. Frazer movedcross-country from Brooklyn to Los Angeles and embarked on a journey that’s reflected in thealbum’s themes of grief, loneliness, and searching for healing. “Into The Blue really meansheading into the unknown. That has been the last year of my life and I’m still in the blue,” Frazerexplains. “But there are also songs here that celebrate love and the giddiness of a newrelationship and all that. That’s part of a breakup to me, processing the whole thing,remembering the things that were right as much as the things that were wrong.”Frazer wrote on every track and played several live instruments on the album. The title track,“Into The Blue”, is a haunting, resolute anthem, combining cinematic strings and tough-as-nailsbreakbeats as Frazer heads west. “Here I go, to a place where the broken heart knows,” hesings. “It’s all I can do. Back into the blue.” “Payback” is an explosive dancefloor heater,featuring shimmering tambourines and driving bass lines. Northern soul drums meet snarlingfuzz guitar, hurdling towards its epic conclusion.The album features moments of towering arrangements, recalling David Axelrod and EnnioMerricone, balanced by rawness, incorporating iPhone recordings and one-take vocals. For Intothe Blue, Frazer enlisted Grammy-winner Alex Goose as co-producer, known for hiscrate-digging samples and collaborations with hip-hop artists like Freddie Gibbs, Madlib andBrockhampton. Frazer also experimented with samples for the first time on a record, drawingfrom unexpected sources like 90s R&B group Hi-Five.Though Into the Blue is born out of heartbreak, Frazer hopes it leaves listeners with a sense ofoptimism. “You know, you can still laugh on a day when you’re grieving,” he says, “there’s nopeaks without valleys,” he says, but Into The Blue sees Aaron Frazer at new heights.
Presented by Live Nation, tickets on sale via Alt Tickets on Friday 10th May.
