Raffertie will release a new EP, Build Me Up, on 20 May – head to Pitchfork for an exclusive first listen to the title track. If Raffertie’s early releases – picked out for support by such razor sharp ears as Nick Grimshaw, Mary Anne Hobbs and Huw Stephens’ – marked him out as a singular, exciting new voice in electronic music, Build Me Up constitutes a thrilling new level of achievement from the young producer. The big news is that he’s added his own vocals to his intensely atmospheric production, and it’s a move that’s paid off and then some. His mused, heartfelt singing adds a personal depth and emotional punch that brings real weight to his latest single. There’s a sense that his production has stepped up in turn; Build Me Up is startling in its simultaneous heaviness and delicacy, a combination that makes it strikingly original. Like his contemporaries Jamie Lidell and How To Dress Well, Raffertie is part of a vanguard that is changing electronic music for the better. Their experiments in adding unabashed feeling to a form that’s often slightly cool in temperature constitute a genuine paradigm shift – they are pushing things forward. [Source]
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