MATT ROBERTSON INTERVIEW "KINTSUGI"

Matt Robertson has worked as Musical Director on Björk’s Biophilia, Vulnicura and Utopia Live shows, and most recently on Arca’s Mutant;Faith live shows.

Matt started working with January 3 years ago with a remix of her single Faithful Feathers. 

Matt produced January’s new album KINTSUGI. Matt lives and works from his studio in Salt Spring Island, Canada. Here he talks to us about Kintsugi. 

How would you describe the sound you brought to the Kintsugi album?

I felt that Kintsugi needed a large scale, but also minimal electronic sound - something which was going to bring out January’s powerful lyrical storytelling.

How did Kinsugi come about?

January co-wrote the album with her long time collaborator Chris Kennedy. They worked on the preliminary recordings together and then sent me the recordings.  I took these as a starting point to build upon. Most of the initial vocal recordings made it to the final stage, as well as some of the instrumental recording, but I also added a lot more layers and reworked some of the arrangements.

What was it that excited you about working on the album?

January is always open to a wide pallet of sounds and it enabled me to be experimental. I knew it was going to work. 

Where did you record with January?

Most of the songs were recorded in Brighton and early on in 2019 she came to record in my studio in Salt Spring.

What were the other stand out moments of production?

It was great to work with The cellist Emily Mitchell. I would send Emily the song 80% finished and she’d record a bunch of cello takes at her place in London and send back to me these big layered up orchestra files. January and I would then pick through the sections which worked best and it became a big part of the record. Emily was super easy to work with. The album displays a lush soundscape of layered cellos, it’s beautiful.

What was your favourite track on the album? – 

Powder River Blossom – because I think it ticked all the boxes. For me the single has a unique widescreen orchestral feel.

Before you go, tell us a little bit about your The Sea Thunder Remix for My Alchemy single.

I started making some textural sounds for it and I came up with some low frequency drones. I called the remix The Sea Thunder Remix because as I recorded it there was a storm and I watched the ocean swelling outside my studio. I used that textural idea as a sound theme for the beats in the remix.

Thanks Matt.

 Interview by Miranda Fleming 

Matt and January recording in Salt Spring Island, Canada.