Live Review: Strap in for Swick's rundown of his fully loaded mixtape Court Composer
We get all the goss on Sydney producer SWICK's new mixtape, packed with insane collaborators, wicked sound design and forward thinking production.
Sydney producer SWICK is one of those rare producers with a totally unique musical point of view. No one is drawing inspiration from global genres, blending them up and launching them into the future of club, hip hop and pop quite like he is, except maybe his label mates at NLV Records. His much anticipated mixtape Court Composer has just dropped, full to the brim with insane collaborators, wicked sound design and forward thinking production.
Across ten tracks he reshapes grime, dancehall, baile funk and EDM into slick club tracks, featuring drops primed for wheeling all the way back and beats to set dancefloors ablaze. Along with the crop of singles Swick has been dropping to prime us for this release is a handful of newbies, tracks that have been sprinkled across live sets showcasing even more of his creative diversity and specificity.
With so much detail and intricate theory woven through fun dance tunes on this mixtape, Swick has truely earned his title as Australia's leading club (and court hehe) composer. With a mixtape this packed, he had a fair bit to say about how the tracks and collaborations came about and gave Purple Sneakers all the goss.
Plug into the latest music with our FREE weekly newsletter
Polo Love (feat. Spank Rock)
This was the first single for Court Composer. It's actually what gave me the idea to do a mixtape. We started this track together in Australia when Spank Rock came down to tour with The Avalanches in 2016. He stayed over at my place and we hung out a lot, went out, danced & stayed up late listening to a lot of Prince. We actually did a few tracks including our other collab 'Ticketz' which came out on my EP 'Stamina'. We then finished 'Polo Love' when Spank Rock returned to tour with The Avalanches again. It's probably my favourite track I've made I don't know why I just really like it. It has a bit of everything. I can't wait to work with Naeem again!
Slopes (feat. Tkay Maidza & Capo Lee)
Tkay & I started this track a while ago when we were doing some songs together for her Switch Tape mixtape & her debut album. I always loved the track but wanted to wait till I had the right idea to finish it. So I ended up re-visiting it later and changed it completely. It's always cool working with Tkay. I then also felt it needed a verse & I had been listening to lots of Capo Lee at the time so we reached out to him & he delivered. It's one of my favourite tracks to play when I'm djing.
Hydration (feat. Nina Las Vegas)
I had this little 16 bar loop of the chorus instrumental that I had sent to Nina just to check out & then straight away she sent back the vocal hook over the top recorded on her phone. I loved it instantly and then we eventually worked on it together and added the verse/bridge sorta bit. I ended up finishing the track at the start of the year while we were in London. It's basically a weird cool love/club song.
1000 Shots (feat. Merky Ace)
I met with Merky Ace at the start of the year when I was in London at Red Bull Studios. We did a couple things together. I'm so happy he came thru to the studio. I love all his stuff, his delivery & also his production as 'Splurt Diablo'. It's kind of a different tune from him mainly cause of the hook. I haven't really heard him do any other singing kinda tracks before but it's also quite tough too, so that's cool. I wanted to make him the focus of the track and build the production around his voice, which I think you can def hear.
Decisions (feat. Kota Banks)
Kota & I started this one together at my place in Melbourne when we were working on her mixtape 'Prize'. I loved it instantly. It was my favourite out of all the tunes we did and before I had even said anything, Kota suggested that I should use this track for my mixtape, so it worked out perfectly. It's kind of a bit afro-beat/dancehall/R&B inspired but I think with my own twist for sure. It always gets stuck in my head but I think that happens with all of Kota's tunes. I love working with her we always get the best out of each other and we both work so quickly when we are together.
Everywhere
I'm pretty sure this is the oldest track of the bunch. For this one I had all my synths set up and just basically had a jam for a while, then went back on the computer and just went thru it all & edited. It's kind of sad & happy at the same time. I made this track when I was just about to leave for Europe & I had just gotten together with my girlfriend but she had to go away so that’s why I think it's kind of happy & sad lol.
Mfana (feat. Kamohelo & Savage Skulls)
This one started when in Stockholm earlier this year. When I was working with 'Lilla Namo' on her EP 'Beep Beep'. I had been playing his track 'Geraas' with Off The Meds a lot. I also found out while I was there that Off The Meds is actually Savage Skulls & Adrian Lux. I'd been in contact with SS a lot sending tunes back & forth & I even remixed their track with 'Douster' TRT a few years ago so it was great to finally work with them IRL. I started the tune with Kamohelo & then went in the Studio with SS and we built the basics & recorded some crazy stuff & I then finished it back home in Melbourne. This is another one that is really fun to play in the club.
Bum Bum Riddim
It's a fun, simple, club instrumental that I had been playing in all my sets. The vocal thing came from a weird preset on the Korg Wavestation. I've actually heard the samples in a few tunes and was pretty excited when I came across it. So I made the track pretty quickly.
Send Me The Money (feat. Capo Lee)
It was great to finally meet Capo Lee in person after doing the Slopes track online. We started this one together at Red Bull Studios in London around the same time I worked with Merky Ace. I played a few beats and Capo instantly picked this one & he had the whole track down pretty quickly. It's probably my favourite track of the bunch to listen to at the moment. On the same day I also played him the Kota Banks track I was working on called 'Fiorentina' which he loved and ended up recording a verse for.
M1 Stinger
This one like Bum Bum Bum Riddim is a fun, simple, club instrumental that I was playing in my sets. It kinda works good as a DJ Tool as well. Nina actually played this in her Boiler Room that she did in March and since then everyone has been asking me for it. So its good that it's finally out now lol.
Swick's mixtape Court Composer is out now via NLV Records, find it on your downloading/streaming service of choice here!
WORDS BY HOLLY O’NEILL
PHOTO Supplied
SEE ALSO
More From Our Network
