BY THE HAND
Curco's debut EP 'By The Hand' is to be released on all major streaming platforms on Friday 13th October 2023.
'By The Hand' is an introductive palette of sounds showcasing what’s to come from Curco. The instrumental collection projects three themes; perfectionism, time, and hands.
“It doesn’t matter how much time you put into working on your art, it will never be perfect to you. Perhaps the more time you put into your art, the less perfect it can be. Everything in ‘By The Hand’ has been made, pressed, clicked, mixed, and mastered by my hands. Hands were never meant to create perfection, instead it can actually exhibit what makes art interesting - the flaws. My debut captured the time when I realised all of this. I think it’s something all artists must have to come to terms with, but ‘By The Hand’ is my time capsule for that moment.”
Curco took his influence for this project from various electronic genres including Future Bass and IDM. After not finding music that ticks the boxes for him in the UK, Curco’s main source of inspiration comes from other international electronic artists including Flume, San Holo & DROELOE. Curco draws upon how these artists evoke human touch in their music and convey different emotions through their use of wonky glitches and intriguing foley recordings.
The journey of making 'By The Hand' started from collecting phone recordings of recent experiences. Curco uses street recordings from around London, birds chirping outside at 4am, and hitting a multitude of objects around the house to clock ticking, rainfall, radio crackles, wind-up toys and various other sounds. All of which are used as background ambience or manipulated to become percussive or melodic. Even his final outro includes Curco himself walking away from his desk after listening back to his mix.
This EP explores sound design through use of rich synths, lush reverbs, thick distortion, and tons of clever automation. Each intricate sound has been carefully selected to engulf the listener through the twist and turns of each track. Curco showcases stark differences between each of the five tracks with overall recognition of the silver lining that establishes the recognisable style of Curco.
