Hey, you. British producer and songwriter Tropics‘ new album Rapture is coming out next week, but because you deserve nice things, we got you a special stream of it. We even threw in an interview with Chris Ward, the man himself, in which he talks about the personal experiences that inspired him to write Rapture, how many dogs could fit in the room he’s currently in, and whether music should be used for escapism or a reality check. All of that, and more, is below.
Rapture is Tropics’ second studio album after his 2011 debut, Parodia Flare, which he wrote in the walk-in closet of his then apartment. Very much lounge-y, very much sexy, very much slow motion heat mirages coming off a desert mansion’s poolside grotto surrounded by tan oiled boobies, Rapture takes the tropical winebar funk of Parodia Flare and thrusts it into maturity.
Lonesome, warmly resonating piano is Rapture’s sonic backbone. It’s flesh is strung together by a dense sampling of synth flourishes and a rhythm section that alternates between free-form jazz, tropical house, and a furtively throbbing beat. Chris Ward’s lucid, mellifluous voice is the blood that pumps through it all, keeping its heartbeat slow, purposeful and syrupy with the vigor of redemptive heartache, something that was on Chris’s mind when he wrote the album.
Okay … That metaphor was really out there. It was really Pitchfork. Sorry, you guys, it’s just that this album is so pretty that it lead me into corners of the English language I never thought I’d have the pretension to venture into.
But alas, it’s stupid beautiful sonic crests and troughs hypnotized me into using words like mellifluous. And I meant every 20 million syllables in it.
We’d be lying if the feel of Rapture didn’t lead us into “romanticizing old relationship territory,” or make us want to take a moonlight drive along the PCH just to feel the brackish air exfoliate our faces. Fuck … there we go again. Damn you Tropics, why you gotta make me feel so sensual? I’m sitting at a desk in a goddamn basement, covered in pie crumbs. There’s no reason I should feel this floaty.
Some standout tracks are ‘Blame,’ in which Chris takes responsibility for the loss of a bae near and dear to him. The intermittent breaks in sound and beat correlate with the ons and offs of his quiver-y voice, and with every uptick in sound and saying, you get the impression he’s had a realization about what he’s lost. Juicy. Another great one? ‘Torrents of Spring.’ In it, the harmony of the synth-y bell sounds that carry that track is occasionally and pleasurably eviscerated by the searing timbre of sax and a sparkly-sounding instruments. There’s not a clear form to the song, and there are about 398 independent noises that each have their own, regretful-sounding purpose in it; the whole song is a testament to his technical versatility and ability to flourish in the absence of traditional melody.
Okay, now let’s move towards something a little more concrete … like trivia! Chris Ward plays every instrument on Rapture, as he has for all of his music, ever. Also, he hates bananas, something you’ll come to know when you read the interview I did with him below.
I’m not in the business of advice, but if I was, I’d tell you to click ‘play’ on the player below and give Rapture a listen while you read the interview. When you’re done, you will have just double-teamed reading and listening, and that’s gotta warrant some sort of self-congratulatory pizza.
The album drops February 17th on Innovative Leisure. Pre-order here.
Hi! Let’s get this interview started right. Where are you right now? How many medium-sized dogs could fit in in the room you’re in? So, I’m in a cafe I like spending time in at the end of my road to. I do stuff like this, and drink good tea while I’m here. It’s quite large and there’s already one dog in here with its owner. I imagine 100 plus dogs could fit in here, which would be terrifying if they decided to revolt against humanity … I saw a trailer for a film about that recently. Planet of The Dogs… It wasn’t called that but, that’s probably what I’d call it.
Tell us about your upcoming album, Rapture. What made you want to make it? I can’t say what made me want to make it, asides from the drive I’ve always had to make songs since as far back as I can remember. I would feel strange if I didn’t / couldn’t make music, it’s like breathing now. It’s always been quite stagnant and unpredictable though, when the inspiration comes. There’s a process of gaining control over this thing I do [music] and pushing it further. Sometimes, it’s at the point where I’m writing music more often than ever and selecting a lot of content for a whole 35-45 minute record.
Were any songs on the album directly inspired by an experience you had? If so, tell us about it! It was an album that I aimed to be personal, but in no way falsified or forced. A natural documentation of things that were happening in my life, without over complicating or encrypting. To me when I listen to my own songs, I can’t say, “Well this sounds like how this artist writes songs or this sounds similar to these bands.” That’s a success for me because I get a bit annoyed when people tell me my song sounds like other artists. I mean, my music has it’s inspiration and idols but it was important that I made a natural piece of work with Rapture. The songs on it are mostly influenced by classic heartache and the complicated relationship issues which I wrote in the heat of a lot of those moments, but also the passing of a friend, family and at points, a character in a book I was reading. Also it’s a bit sadder than I had planned (laughs). It wasn’t actually until recently listening back, a while after it was finished that I was like, “Ok wow, this is quite sad sounding.” It felt bright at the time but maybe that was the therapy I got from writing music.
Rapture is pretty steamy. Which one of your songs should I play if I was to theoretically make out with my boyfriend? Haha, I have to say I haven’t tried making out to this record because that would be kinda cringe! Only for me though … I like that you’re willing to give it a go! I think I’d suggest ‘Kwiat,’ ‘Rapture’ or ‘Blame’ for an epic make out session. Give it a try!
You end the album with a song called ‘Not Enough,’ which is kind of a glorious summation of the heartbreak that Rapture often implies. Can you talk a little about your choice to close with that track? What feeling do you want to leave listeners with after hearing the full album through? It’s meant to be a bit of an epilogue, this song. I wanted to end originally on ‘House of Leaves’ which is quite an epic moment that builds up and crashes about the place, it’s almost like it’s transporting you quickly to the end of the album, and when you arrive there’s ‘Not Enough’. It’s kind of like the calm after the storm, its totally heart-on-sleeve and wallowing in the themes of the album, but in a brighter, more content sort of colour. I love the thought of people listening to the whole album through, imagining they’d just say, “Roller coaster!”
You’ve described your music as “very nostalgic in places.” For what are you nostalgic for? I find it hard to describe my music occasionally, so maybe someone else called it that and I just went along with it haha. I like for it to evoke a nostalgic feeling in the listener, for whatever reason or situation they may feel it reminiscent of.
On this album, you utilize many of the same tropical, rainforest-y sounds you’re known for, which makes your music kind of easy to escape into. Is that intentional? Do you think music should help the listener escape, or wake them up to reality? Definitely escapism. But if I can get to the point where I’m clever enough to help them deal with their reality through songwriting, then that’s a big bonus.
Your voice has gotten louder, clearer, and stronger throughout your progress as Tropics. What’s your lyric writing process like? Was it strange to move from sole production to vocal songwriting? Thank you. Yes it’s a strange and quite tough process. Even in the early days I’d always recorded bits of my voice, so I’d been dipping my toes in from the start but over the years I’ve been developing it, pushing it and getting it to a point where it could sound good clean. My lyric writing process is usually in front of a piano, so I’ll write the song and melody first, occasionally going back and changing lines a few days after the first drafts sink in.
With songwriting, no matter how much intent you put towards a specific meaning, someone will always interpret the song for themselves and ascribe to it a meaning of their own.That being said, which is more important: that someone connects with your music via their own interpretation of it, or that you get the point you were trying to make across? Well this is a great question. I’m not so pedantic about getting my point across, I’ve always liked the idea the listener being able to interpret the music in terms of the context of whatever is happening in their lives if that’s what it takes for them to connect. I think that’s more of a feat for me.
I was going over some old interviews with you, and I found one in The Guardian that finished up a review of Parodia Flare with a set of superlatives, during which they voted your music “Least likely to: Improve the biosphere.” I thought that was hilarious. It was such a bad pun using your band name, which made me wonder, what’s the weirdest feedback to your music you’ve received? Yeah the biosphere thing made me laugh, its a good play on the title. Hmm weirdest feedback … Someone once told me they played one of my songs to their unborn baby in the womb. That’s pretty sweet though.
You’ve remixed a lot of tracks, including ones by Bear in Heaven and Little Dragon. What do you hear in a song that makes you want to re-work it? Another good question! It’s usually if I’m a big fan of the artist or their album, however sometimes that makes it harder because you want to do a good enough job to impress them, especially when the original is such a masterpiece. Other times it’s if I really like particular moments, voices or textures used in a song but not in the way I would use them myself, so that’s an opportunity also, to rework that.
What’s one thing that you absolutely refuse to do? Eat bananas.
If you were to become ultra-famous, what would be your most ridiculous diva request? Get rid of all the bananas please.
Do you ever play instruments with body parts that aren’t your hands? I don’t, I think that could lead to a pretty weird, sinister YouTube or even x-rated fame if I could.
What’s next for you? Any plans to play LA? Yeah hopefully. We’re collecting all our options at the moment and structuring some touring!
