Lone

Sobre

The primary alias of Nottingham, England native Matt Cutler, [wimpLink artistId="31846"]Lone[/wimpLink] brings a vivid, technicolor approach to every style he touches, whether it's acid house, instrumental hip-hop, or atmospheric jungle. First gaining attention with the abstract downtempo of releases like 2008's [wimpLink albumId="59672943"]Lemurian[/wimpLink], he channeled [wimpLink artistId="3546285"]808 State[/wimpLink]-style house on the ecstatic [wimpLink albumId="70952596"]Emerald Fantasy Tracks[/wimpLink] (2010) and several subsequent efforts, then combined hip-hop and dance tracks with 2014's [wimpLink albumId="59574726"]Reality Testing[/wimpLink]. On 2016's [wimpLink albumId="59963080"]Levitate[/wimpLink], he plunged headfirst into jungle and breakbeat hardcore. Following several years' worth of club-focused EPs and archival releases, he fused dream pop and ambient house with his eighth full-length, 2021's [wimpLink albumId="187842142"]Always Inside Your Head[/wimpLink].<br/>Before he started making music as [wimpLink artistId="31846"]Lone[/wimpLink], Cutler formed the hip-hop duo [wimpLink artistId="3602707"]Kids in Tracksuits[/wimpLink] with DJ Andy Hemsley. The pair released a handful of EPs and performed a session on BBC Radio One in 2006. [wimpLink artistId="31846"]Lone[/wimpLink] debuted in 2007 with a CD-R, Everything Is Changing Colour, which recalled the pastoral folktronica of [wimpLink artistId="3637822"]Bibio[/wimpLink]. A series of 2008 and 2009 releases on Nottingham-based Dealmaker Records and the [wimpLink artistId="3612456"]Actress[/wimpLink]-helmed Werk Discs, including the full-lengths [wimpLink albumId="59672943"]Lemurian[/wimpLink] and [wimpLink albumId="70952617"]Ecstasy & Friend[/wimpLink], positioned Cutler's project as something of a midpoint between admitted inspirations [wimpLink artistId="19232"]Madlib[/wimpLink] and [wimpLink artistId="3568992"]Boards of Canada[/wimpLink], as the producer combined off-center hip-hop beats with wistful, dreamlike layers and melodies. Cutler also collaborated with Tom Brayford-Watson (aka Keaver & Brause) as [wimpLink artistId="3932425"]Kona Triangle[/wimpLink], issuing the full-length Sing a New Sapling into Existence (Porter Records).<br/>While some [wimpLink artistId="31846"]Lone[/wimpLink] tracks -- or sections of some tracks -- had dancefloor appeal, Cutler flipped a switch in 2010. The A-sides "Pineapple Crush" (Magic Wire) and "Once in a While" (Werk Discs), along with the full-length [wimpLink albumId="70952596"]Emerald Fantasy Tracks[/wimpLink] (Magic Wire), retained the evocative feel of his earlier work while incorporating his affinity for early-'90s hardcore, house, and rave. The deeply indebted yet unique sound carried through the six-track Echolocations EP (R&S), then took a bit of a goofball turn on "All Those Weird Things," both of which were released in 2011. "Crystal Gardens 1991" previewed [wimpLink albumId="59674186"]Galaxy Garden[/wimpLink], a 2012 album for R&S. [wimpLink artistId="4589255"]Azealia Banks[/wimpLink] sampled [wimpLink artistId="31846"]Lone[/wimpLink] tracks on her [wimpLink albumId="93542706"]1991[/wimpLink] EP and [wimpLink albumId="291790499"]Fantasea[/wimpLink] mixtape, and Cutler worked with the rapper on subsequent releases, including her 2014 full-length debut, [wimpLink albumId="311222965"]Broke with Expensive Taste[/wimpLink].<br/>[wimpLink artistId="31846"]Lone[/wimpLink]'s album [wimpLink albumId="59574726"]Reality Testing[/wimpLink], a mixture of downtempo hip-hop and house tracks, appeared on R&S in 2014. Two years later, he explored his love of '90s jungle with the full-length [wimpLink albumId="59963080"]Levitate[/wimpLink]. In 2017, Cutler offered an entry in the [wimpLink albumId="184774729"]DJ-Kicks[/wimpLink] series, marking his first commercial mix album. It was led by the single "Saturday Night." The same year, he initiated the four-volume EP series Ambivert Tools, which were compiled on a Japan-only CD in 2018. Cutler launched his Ancient Astronauts imprint in 2019, issuing the single "Melted (Out of Body Experience)" and two EPs of breakbeat-heavy club cuts, Abraxas and Not Seeing Is a Flower. He also produced [wimpLink artistId="4589255"]Banks[/wimpLink]' single "Count Contessa."<br/>Cutler opened his vaults and released several albums of early material and rarities throughout 2020, including three volumes of the Greenhills Road Archive Traks series. He also returned to R&S with the collaborative EP Lone X Kettama. In 2021, [wimpLink artistId="31846"]Lone[/wimpLink] signed to the London-based Greco-Roman label and released [wimpLink albumId="187842142"]Always Inside Your Head[/wimpLink], a more song-based album that took inspiration from shoegaze, downtempo, ambient pop, and IDM. ~ Paul Simpson & Andy Kellman