Melbourne-based songwriter and producer Katz shares ‘Forward‘ – the latest single from his forthcoming second EP, due August 13 via Dot Dash / Remote Control Records.
The oscillating synths and bright, futuristic sounds of ‘Forward’ feature the vocals of well-loved Melbourne artist Fractures, whose pristine delivery provides a point of contrast to the syncopated chord stabs, chopped vocals samples, and break-style beat of Katz’s instrumental. As ‘Forward’ continues to build around its spiralling synths, the synchronicity between Katz’s production and Fractures’s vocals grows into a genuinely lovely moment of cinematic, emotionally-driven indie pop. Fractures says: “The track had a lightness that guided the melody lines but we couldn’t resist putting a dark spin on the lyrics.”
“‘Forward’ is full of constructive criticism – it’s about someone shirking their own ambitions and making excuses for unrealised potential”, adds Katz. “‘Forward’ is the second track Mark (Fractures) and I have written together. In contrast to the slow jam/neo-soul-tinged ‘Cipher’ (from the Waterfall EP), with ‘Forward’ we set out to make something a bit more airy and pop-focussed, but still a little dark, lyrically speaking. As a harmony-loving piano player, it was a lot of fun building thick vocal stacks and floating them over what is a relatively spare instrumental. We definitely laboured over those harmonies, making sure the right layer would cut through at the right time in order to meet the intention of a particular lyric.”