SUNDER captured a particular point in your life, but revisiting it through SUNDERLUXE means hearing those songs in a different context. Has your understanding of what you were trying to express on the original project changed with time?
I wouldn’t say my understanding of the idea has changed because in the end SUNDER is kind of the same resolve it was searching the whole time, but you definitely get even more clarity about that with time.
What made this the right moment to revisit SUNDER? Was there something you felt the original release left unfinished, or did you become curious about how the material might sound through someone else’s perspective?
SUNDER was this world I had spent a long time building, so I just wanted to explore it further and see where else it could go, and where others might take it.
Remixes can completely change the emotional character of a song while preserving its core. When you heard the reinterpretations for SUNDERLUXE, was there a version that made you hear one of your own tracks differently?
I was so hyped hearing all these artists I love, taking these songs and reimagining them in a way I never would’ve thought of, that was such a sick experience. How Mel Blue flipped SOUTH into this huge major key anthemic kind of UK breakbeat track that somehow fit so well inside the SUNDER world I still don’t know.
Your music sits between alternative R&B, soul and electronic production, with atmosphere playing an important role in the finished sound. How do you find the balance between creating something sonically interesting and making sure the emotion at the centre of a song remains intact?
Honestly those two things are what drives it, but the feeling comes first. I try to capture a certain feeling, and then I do what I can to make the atmosphere and the sonics sort of carry that feeling, that’s how it works for me.
The inclusion of an earlier version of “STILL DROWNING IN MY ROOM” offers a glimpse into the decisions that happen before a song reaches its final form. What did the original version capture that you didn’t want to lose, and what ultimately led you to take the song in a different direction?
There’s a feeling I get when I make something I really like and it’s what drives me to finish the idea, and I got that feeling when I made that initial idea, but I just couldn’t find the pocket for the vocals. After a while I stripped out all the house/funk rhythm sections and worked on a smoother half-time r&b type feel and the vocals came, but I never forgot the feeling of that first demo.
When another producer reworks your music, they inevitably bring their own experiences and instincts to it. How do you approach that exchange as an artist, particularly when their interpretation differs from what you originally imagined?
I think a big part of it is choosing artists that you feel will gel well with you and understand the vision, which they all definitely did.
Your songs often leave space for listeners to bring their own experiences to the music. When you’re writing, do you deliberately leave certain feelings or meanings unresolved, or does that ambiguity emerge naturally through the process?
A bit of both. I figure if I can make things a bit clearer to myself by writing, then maybe someone listening, in a way, might see what they’re dealing with in their own world in it, and hopefully it can even help them to make more sense of it. But I’m not trying to explicitly tell people anything, it’s just what I see.
As your catalogue develops, how do you recognise when a sound or approach genuinely reflects where you are creatively, rather than simply repeating something that has worked for you before?
If it gives me that feeling that I mentioned before when I’m making it, that’s the only way for me to tell really. Otherwise I just get bored with it or it feels stale, and I just leave it.
SUNDERLUXE brings together different interpretations of a project that originally existed in a more defined form. Has working on it changed the way you think about releasing music, collaboration or how long a body of work can continue to evolve after its initial release?
All of the above, for sure. The collaboration aspect has been a good time, especially with how insular the original SUNDER was, not just the story itself but how I made it, so it was cool to open that back up with other people and to keep building it.
Looking ahead, what are you feeling creatively that you haven’t yet found a way to express through your music? Is there a direction you’re curious to explore that might surprise people who have followed JVLY so far?
Yeah, I think so, keep an eye out
Stream:
Socials:
Credits:
Written & Produced by Kayle Butler
Remixes by Mel Blue, Contrecoeur, Lemonade Baby, dj poolboi
Mixing by Doug Wright
Mastering by Ryan Schwarbe
Photos & Artwork by Kayle Butler
