“Blending guitar plucks and skittering synths, it’s an unlikely mixture of summertime hedonism and rave aesthetics.” – Dummy
“Five deconstructed Baroque-pop pieces.” – FACT
“mmph’s controlled chaos is arresting—his productions are finely tuned to create both wonder and confusion.” – Pitchfork
“The sheer amount of different sounds is heady, in the mix you’ll find pizzicato strings, growling guitar, splashy cymbals and much more, but all of it is kept expertly balanced by mmph.” – The 405
“Serenade evokes a newfound expressive romanticism utilizing a broader palate of orchestral and electronic sounds.” – XLR8R
Today 24 year-old Sae Heum Han, who records under the name mmph, releases his second EP, ‘Serenade’ via Tri Angle.
The five-track EP was announced two weeks ago with the track ‘Woodlawn’ and is now available digitally and on both tape cassette (limited to 100 copies) and vinyl (500 copies).
Listen to ‘Serenade’ on your platform of choice here: http://smarturl.it/
Above 24 year-old Sae Heum Han’s desk hangs a blue and white crochet crucifix given to him by his grandmother. This object doubles as the artwork for ‘Serenade.’ Separate from any religious connotations, the crucifix represents love, loss and hope – themes mmph explores on the EP.
‘Serenade’ follows his debut EP ‘Dear God’, which was released on Tri Angle Records earlier this year. Since the release of ‘Dear God’, mmph has worked on his own evolving sound while also producing new music for the likes ofDavid Byrne, Serpentwithfeet & Lauren Auder.
Classically trained since childhood, Han attended Berklee College of Music to study cello before shifting his concentration towards Electronic Production & Sound Design, a pivot that resulted in the birth of his project, mmph. mmph’s compositions exist at the intersection of analog classical music arrangement and forward thinking electronic sound production. While ‘Dear God’ processed the way in which certain personal tragedies had eclipsed Han’s“personal love affair with music,” ‘Serenade’ evokes a newfound expressive romanticism utilizing a broader palate of orchestral and electronic sounds.
Melodically focused, orchestrally informed and rhythmically driven, each of ‘Serenade’s five songs utilize a different classical trope to create Wagnerian suites in miniature. “Minuet” is a stately dance in triple time (performance),“Tragedy” is a play (death), “Elegy” is a mourning poem (death), and “Serenade” is a courtship song often played in the open air (love). Fusing synths choirs, arpeggiated (sometimes plucked) strings & steel string guitars, mmph creates a sense of extraordinary melodrama that feels more at home against the romantic backdrop of a Turner seaside cliff than a college student’s basement. Against these romantic landscapes, the baroque-feeling mini-operas of mmph’s ‘Serenade‘ comes to life.
‘Serenade’ track list:
1. Minuet
2. Tradgedy
3. Woodlawn
4. Elegy
5. Serenade
‘Serenade’ EP artwork:
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