Swaine Delgado has been firmly on our radar since he came through Liveschool a few years ago. The Perth based musician has been releasing a slow trickle of woozy, lofi guitar pop for a couple of years – each release further refining his unique sense of melody and arrangement.
We first blogged about him shortly after graduation in 2018, but it was his track “Fading” in 2019 that demonstrated what would happen when his production skills caught up with his raw potential.
We weren’t the only ones paying attention – the iconic Future Classic label has obviously been keeping a close eye on our guy – tapping him to become part of their Studio Residency program in 2019. The program saw artists from around the world spend two weeks in Los Angeles at the purpose built Future Classic studios. It was a chance for Swaine to connect with established artists and get a taste of what it’s like to go back to back with some of the best in the business.
During the two weeks Swaine had sessions with a whole range of artists, including our own bass lord Touch Sensitive – telling Future Classic
“The one with Touch Sensitive was really cool because I listen to a lot of his music, and we’re both from Australia. I kind of knew what I wanted out of the session with him and we got it. So I just got straight into the drums because I knew that would be a big part of the song. Laid down this beat and gave him the bass guitar because that’s what he does really well. And it came together so easy.”
The end result of all these jams is Swaine’s new EP Brushed – which has just been released by Future Classic.
With the lead single “Boulevard” racking up over 2 million plays on Spotify since its release, it’s fair to say that Swaine Delgado’s sound has found its niche. The new EP expands on Swaine’s aesthetic, his hushed vocals, laid back guitar tones and hazed out drums complementing the input of collaborators to take his work in new directions. On “F Me Up” Touch Sensitive injects timeless disco funk, Sheldon5d’s contribution sends “Bitter Truth” into true LA territory with a more hip hop influenced sound than we’ve heard from Delgado so far.
With this release under his belt, the stage is set for Delgado to expand his sonic world even further. We can’t wait to hear what’s coming next!