Flume Previews New Album Skin, Explains Every Track: Listen

Australian beatmaker Flume will release his new album, Skin, on Friday. He’s already shared several tracks from the record, such as “Never Be Like You,” “Smoke and Retribution,” “Wall Fuck,” and “Say It.” In the last few days, he’s previewed all of the songs on his Instagram account, including several unreleased tracks, and shared stories about their development. (If you go to his Instagram page, the previews form a mosaic of the cover art.) Here’s how he explained “Wall Fuck”: “My goal with this song was to create sounds that sound like the fabric of the universe tearing.” Find the previews below. Skin features Raekwon, Vince Staples, Vic Mensa, Little Dragon, AlunaGeorge, Allan Kingdom, and more. Update (12:59 p.m.): Vince Staples (who is on “Smoke and Retribution”) has announced that Flume’s album will premiere on Facebook live today at 4:30 Eastern. See his tweet below.

1 – Helix I started the first half of this song in Venice Beach and finished the last half in Mexico, a year later. It took me a long time to make it work. I still think of it as Helix pt.I and Helix pt.II

A video posted by Flume (@flumemusic) on May 22, 2016 at 2:02pm PDT

2 – Never Be Like You (feat. @listentokai) Kai has an amazing voice and a great ear for melody. Thanks for all the support on this one, it means a lot!

A video posted by Flume (@flumemusic) on May 22, 2016 at 5:00pm PDT

3 – Lose It (feat. @VicMensa) I thought the weird sound at the start of the track sounded like electronic whale calls, so before Vic got on it, this track was called Electro Whale Symphony.

A video posted by Flume (@flumemusic) on May 22, 2016 at 7:59pm PDT

4 – Numb and Getting Colder (feat. @iamkucka) The concept behind this song was figuring out a way to combine sounds from experimental music and pop, then have it make sense. I pitched & sped up Kučka’s vocals to make her sound like an alien babe from the future. It sounded kind of wrong, but also kind of right. This is the track I’m most proud of on the record. Kučka killed it!

A video posted by Flume (@flumemusic) on May 22, 2016 at 11:16pm PDT

5 – Say It (feat. @ToveLo) I heard a Tove Lo track playing at a bar in LA, I didn’t know who it was so I shazamed it. A few days later we were in the studio together, it all came about so quickly! Tove was awesome to work with, she’s such a pro.

A video posted by Flume (@flumemusic) on May 23, 2016 at 4:10am PDT

6 – Wall Fuck My goal with this song was to create sounds that sound like the fabric of the universe tearing. Then turn them into a song. Lots of distortion here.

A video posted by Flume (@flumemusic) on May 23, 2016 at 9:00am PDT

7 – Pika I went on a solo mission to Mexico to get out of my comfort zone and write. That’s how this track came about. In this track I was experimenting with using heavy distortion on delicate, beautiful sounds. I love the contrast.

A video posted by Flume (@flumemusic) on May 23, 2016 at 5:59pm PDT

8 – Smoke & Retribution (feat. @VinceStaples & @iamKucka) I started this beat in the back of a van on the way to Vegas. Usually, I start the beat first, and then the rapper gets involved. This time it was different, I had Vince’s vocal first, and wrote the music around it. I enjoyed working this way because it allowed me to customize the music around the rhythm of the rap. I love the masculine/feminine contrast of Vince & Kučka’s vocals together.

A video posted by Flume (@flumemusic) on May 23, 2016 at 8:59pm PDT

Track 9 – “3″ This is one of the few songs on the record that I sing on. I recorded the vocal through my laptop mic. I was going to re-record it, but then i grew to love the shittyness of it.

A video posted by Flume (@flumemusic) on May 24, 2016 at 2:01am PDT

10 – When Everything Was New I wanted to create a feeling of nostalgia. The wonder/fear/excitement a child feels when going to a carnival or the fair for the first time. As an adult I often miss the feeling of experiencing things for the first time.

A video posted by Flume (@flumemusic) on May 24, 2016 at 9:59am PDT

11 – You Know (feat. Allan Kingdom & Raekwon) @iamallankingdom and @raekwon absolutely nailed this one. DARK CINEMATIC HIP-HOP

A video posted by Flume (@flumemusic) on May 24, 2016 at 3:57pm PDT

12 – Take A Chance (feat. Little Dragon) I’m a huge fan of @littledragonflicks and have been for a while now. Having the oppurtunity to work with them was a dream come true. Yukimi has such a unnique tone & sense of melody.

A video posted by Flume (@flumemusic) on May 24, 2016 at 6:47pm PDT

13 – Innocence (feat. @AlunaGeorge) I wanted to do somthing that had more of a progressive feel to it. Something that takes you on a journey, less of a verse/chorus feel. I started playing around with the vocal sample from Aluna, then we finishd the song in the studio together. Really happy with how turned out.

A video posted by Flume (@flumemusic) on May 24, 2016 at 9:02pm PDT

14 – Like Water (feat. @MNDR_official) This was one of the first songs I wrote for the record. Amanda’s vocal has some kind of otherworldly quality to it which I love.

A video posted by Flume (@flumemusic) on May 24, 2016 at 11:57pm PDT

15 – Free I was going a little crazy trying to write music in my studio at home in Sydney. I had writers block for months, to the point where I thought I may never be able to write music again. So I bought a one-way ticket to Tasmania, found a log cabin in the woods, and isolated myself from the world for 10 days. This is the moment I broke free from my creative block.

A video posted by Flume (@flumemusic) on May 25, 2016 at 6:04am PDT

Today. pic.twitter.com/07AVPin1TC

— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) May 25, 2016

Flume:

07-19 Dunedin, New Zealand -Forsyth Eastern Pad
07-20 Christchurch, New Zealand – Horncastle
07-22 Auckland, New Zealand – Vector Arena
08-04 Seattle, WA – Paramount Theater
08-07 Vancouver, British Columbia – PNE Amhpitheatre
08-11 Los Angeles, CA – Shrine Expo Hall
08-14 San Diego, CA – Valley View Casino Center
08-16 Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
08-18 Morrison, CO – Red Rocks
08-20 Minneapolis, MN – Skyway Theatre
08-22 Detroit, MI – Masonic Temple
08-23 Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
08-25 Columbus, OH – Express Live!
08-27 New York, NY – Forest Hills Stadium
08-29 Boston, MA – House of Blues
08-31 Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
09-04 Charlottesville, VA – nTelos Wireless Pavilion
09-07 Atlanta, GA – The Tabernacle
09-08 Orlando, FL – House of Blues
09-10 Miami, FL -The Fillmore at Jackie Gleason
09-11 Tampa, FL – Jannus Live
09-14 New Orleans, LA – The Orpheum Theater
09-16 St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
09-17 Kansas City, MO – Arvest Bank Theatre The Midland
09-23 San Francisco, CA – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
09-27 Phoenix, AZ – Comerica Theatre
11-04 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Heineken Music Hall
11-05 Brussels, Belgium – Forest National
11-07 Copenhagen, Denmark – Falconer Salen
11-09 Berlin, Germany – Columbiahalle
11-12 Munich, Germany – Tonhalle
11-13 Cologne, Germany – Live Music Hall
11-14 Strasbourg, France – Zenith
11-16 Paris, France – Zenith
11-17 London, England – Alexandra Palace
11-18 Manchester, England – The Warehouse Project
11-25 Perth, Australia – Perth Arena
12-01 Brisbane, Australia – Riverstage
12-9 Sydney, Australia – Qudos Bank Arena
12-15 Melbourne, Australia – Myer Music Bowl
12-17 Adelaide, Australia – Entertainment Centre

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