ATTLAS teams up with progressive house veteran Mango for inspiring new single “Over The Water”
2x JUNO-nominated progressive house producer ATTLAS recently delivered his collaborative single, “Over The Water,” with genre pioneer and Silk veteran Mango.
The track arrives as ATTLAS’ first original release, following his third celebrated album this spring. “Over The Water” draws inspiration from the beauty of Lake Huron, a natural escape that ATTLAS frequents for creative stimulation. The organic synergy between both producers is embodied in the soothing melodies on the track, a contrast from each of their recent moodier soundscapes.
ATTLAS shares,
“After grinding out a very personal ‘winter album’, it was a welcome bit of friendship and sunshine to collaborate on such an uplifting, warm-day kind of record. An easy and comfortable musical overlap that’s a combination of our respective creative strengths and outlooks.”
Mango adds,
“I simply feel Jeff and I made a perfect team, we managed to showcase the best of our trademark sounds, while keeping a perfect balance between deep and melodic progressive sounds.”
Listen to “Over The Water” below and learn more about ATTLAS via our Five Questions With segment.
Introduce yourself to our readers – who is ATTLAS?
Hey there! ATTLAS is an electronic music project from the heart, soul, and mind of me – Jeff Hartford. It’s narrative-based, often described as more cinematic – but it’s equally at home in a club and a campsite. It’s music from the heart, and sometimes the heart is soft and inviting, sometimes it’s hurt and angry. Textured, nuanced, with as much musical integrity as I can muster up. There’s a reason why I name tracks after places in provincial parks, and there’s a reason why I get to play till 5 am at some of the most amazing venues. Listen, and you’ll get it.
Tell us a bit about “Over The Water.” Is there a story or a message behind this one? And how did you come to collaborate with Mango?
There’s definitely a story first, and the message was born out of the collaborative effort between Mango, MAYLYN (the lyricist/vocalist), and myself. The original demo was something that came during a late-night snowstorm before Christmas in 2021. The original Ableton session was a reference to a Huron Carol that’s become part of the Canadian Christmas tradition. It was a much more introspective track at first, bathed in a wash of tape noise and wind/storm samples that barely made room for a piano chord progression. Once we got to the stage of working on it as a collaboration, though, winter had thawed into spring. Mango’s production brought focus and sharpness to what was once a quiet foggy arrangement, and MAYLYN’s vocals brought us over rushing water and clear skies.
Where do you tend to pull inspiration from when writing/producing?
I think my inspirations are two-fold. Primarily, it’s no secret that the work has large, overt references to places in our provincial parks. My writing is quite seasonally influenced. I work to experience as much outdoors as I can – my fear is that if you don’t balance it out, your music is the result of your experiences. And music that was influenced by sitting on a computer can only go so far. I need the time away, the fresh air, the break from information overload. I can breathe and experience, and live, then come back home and write about it. There’s a grander mystery I don’t have the answers to, but the writing in many ways is enjoying the process of at least asking the questions.
Do you have any upcoming shows or festivals? What will your production look like?
I have a few dates on the calendar, but the primary focus right now is finishing this new album. Without giving away too much, it’s a full album-length collab with a folk singer. Subsequently, the aim is to build a very special live experience that brings out the best in each of our technical and creative ambitions. The composition is largely complete; it’s just finalizing the mixes and final production elements in the studio currently before we share the work we’ve grown so proud of.
What’s your biggest goal for 2022?
I’m finishing and hopefully sharing a brand new vocal album, I’m running another ultramarathon, and I’m just hoping to continue to grow a bit more socially open – I’ve hidden myself for a while and have recently got a taste of the full experience of life.