Matt Karmil

Matt Karmil’s extraordinary, deeply textured music makes for an intricate sonic patchwork, yet he titles his albums minimally, simply and functionally: —-, IDLE033, ++++, Will, and now his latest STS371, named after the albums catalogue number on Smalltown Supersound. While his works fit within the tradition of techno’s timeless anonymity, Karmil’s highly personal music is anything but a xerox on dance music’s previous life. “While making this album I kept thinking about simple forms in music, how powerful they can be and to try not to unnecessarily complicate things”, he says.

STS371 was made largely while Karmil was travelling. Anticipating the completion of his purpose built music studio in The Cotswolds in England, Karmil favoured “on the fly” production methods to finish his album. “It was not a linear process of recording”, says Karmil, “and in the end the majority of the work was to arrange and choose the right sounds and vibe”.

After releasing with labels like PNN, Idle Hands, Beats In Space and Studio Barnhus, Karmil has found a home with Smalltown Supersound, which also released his esteemed album Will in 2018. Since the release of Will he has co-produced and mixed Kornél Kovács’ acclaimed Stockholm Marathon. He has also worked with, among many others, Matias Aguayo for Crammed Discs and Talaboman for R&S, as an engineer, mixing and mastering.

STS371 is a collection of nine tracks that encompasses his previous album journeys. It’s his most concise album to date, with his signature mix of minimalism and reverb-drenched house still being the backbone of his warm, rich, atmospheric and melancholic sound. Or as Karmil puts it – minimally, simply and functionally: “I made a conscious effort to up the energy, and found a collection of tunes that felt coherent to me”.