Frequency Of The Week No. 2: Cheshire

–Written by Kevin Madert

Electronic music’s explosive expansion seems to have hit Australia and New Zealand harder than almost anywhere else in recent memory. The meteoric rise of artists like Flume has been coupled with the emergence of a plethora of smaller artists with huge potential. The region has become a hotbed for glitch producers in particular; Opiuo just embarked on his first full-fledged world tour, and labels like Adapted Records have begun to curate some of the most promising up-and-coming talent. That’s where we find Cheshire, the man who’s redefining glitch-funk with his blend of uplifting melodies, non-traditional instrumentation, and deceptively heavy breakdowns.

That’s not to say he’s new to the scene – he’s actually been releasing music professionally since 2008, when he scored a Beatport number one with an EP on Excision’s Rottun Recordings. Listening to the four tracks on Punk we can hear an artist very much caught up in the late-2000s dubstep explosion. Even though the EP often sounds derivative of some of his Rottun labelmates, there’s plenty of hinting at where his sound was headed. Using the ear for sonic weight he honed as a dubstep producer, Cheshire took a step back and put his efforts towards more eclectic endeavors.

A little over a year ago, he released The Funk’d Up EP. A stylistic 180 from Punk, the four tracks displayed a producer eager to prove he could carve out a unique niche in the genre. With frequent use of understated horns and subtle, hard-edged drops peppered with actual instrumental accompaniment he succeeded in doing just that, and similarly styled EPs Funk On and Taste Test followed in quick succession.

Then came Simply Lifted, Cheshire’s debut full-length. With a high attention to production detail, tons of quality collaborations, and a willingness to constantly push the boundaries of his signature sound, it’s the album that’s poised to propel him into the spotlight at an international level. Tracks like “Snatching It Back” and “Simply Lifted” showcase how seamless the melding of his dubstep and funk influences has become, while more out-there tunes like the wildly funky synth-stroller “Come Baby” indicate – at least to this listener – that the evolution of Cheshire is nowhere close to complete.

Give Simply Lifted a listen below and grab a copy here.