After spending the last year working on collaborations and perfecting his latest release, Goldwash finally delivers Arson Dreams, his sophomore EP. Packed with 13 soft, psychedelic tracks, the lead single, “Deliverance”, dropped today.
Goldwash is a sharp, trained producer with academic credentials from Yale and real-life vetting from collaborations with Wheathan, Møme, and BROCKHAMPTON. His tracks always push genre boundaries and edge on the experimental, each reflecting a blend of influences. What I love most are the new timbres that he creates from standard instruments.
I started the song around January 2020 by playing with a weirdly-tuned electric piano and trying to pitch-bend a bunch of instruments together to sound like a record slowing down.[...] I hope my music sounds pretty distinctive since I spend a lot of time messing around with textures, harmonies, and melodies.
The common theme among artists this year has been quarantine and lockdown restlessness. Unlike others I’ve listened to, however, Goldwash feels patient, maybe even a little punchdrunk. The lyrics paint the picture of the “maybes” we’ve all talked about over Covid, and the hopes for the future. But Goldwash ends it in a measured fashion leaving me optimistic for what’s to come. The strings draw you in, and the silky guitar feels melty on the ears, with Goldwash’s voice helping you drift off, before ending with a bright string outro.
I started the song around January 2020 by playing with a weirdly-tuned electric piano and trying to pitch-bend a bunch of instruments together to sound like a record slowing down. The music felt really circular, like spinning around in place, so during the beginning of lockdown I wrote some lyrics about feeling stuck. To finish it off, I arranged and remotely recorded a bunch of live strings for the outro that made the main riff a lot more emotional.
I really respect an artist that can take time to perfect their craft and style. Instead of churning singles to get a name, Goldwash has spent time collaborating and building himself up.
I'm pulling a lot of ideas from jazz and contemporary classical music, and I try to dig deep into experimental production ideas. Most of the stuff doesn't work, but every now and again I stumble across something that feels new and interesting.
More than that, by completing a full project, I get a better sense of what type of artist he is. Rather than several singles shot off in rapid fire, the artist takes time to develop the whole theme and project: it’s slow growth. I’m excited for the full EP to release, and to take my time jamming to these mellow tracks poolside after quarantine.
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