Aaron Frazer - Into The Blue [LP]

"Into The Blue is the clearest portrait of who I am as an artist. It's me throughand through," says multi-instrumentalist Aaron Frazer. A daring blend of soul, psychedelia,spaghetti western, disco, gospel and hip-hop, Into the Blue represents the impressive rangeof Frazer's sonic talents. Frazer maintains the unmistakable falsetto and classic songwritinghe's known for, but plants Into the Blue firmly in the now with a hip-hop mentality at it's core,weaving together genres and production techniques to form something new.Into The Blue was conceived, like so many classic records, out of actualheartbreak. Frazer moved cross-country from Brooklyn to Los Angeles and embarked on ajourney that's reflected in the album's themes of grief, loneliness, and searching for healing."Into The Blue really means heading into the unknown. That has been the last year of mylife and I'm still in the blue," Frazer explains. "But there are also songs here that celebratelove and the giddiness of a new relationship and all that. That's part of a breakup to me,processing the whole thing, remembering the things that were right as much as the thingsthat were wrong."Frazer wrote on every track and played several live instruments on thealbum. The title track, "Into The Blue", is a haunting, resolute anthem, combining cinematicstrings and tough-as-nails breakbeats as Frazer heads west. "Here I go, to a place where thebroken heart knows," he sings. "It's all I can do. Back into the blue." "Payback" is an explosivedancefloor heater, featuring shimmering tambourines and driving bass lines. Northern souldrums meet snarling fuzz guitar, hurdling towards it's epic conclusion.The album features moments of towering arrangements, recalling DavidAxelrod and Ennio Merricone, balanced by rawness, incorporating iPhone recordingsand one-take vocals. For Into the Blue, Frazer enlisted Grammy-winner Alex Goose as coproducer, known for his crate-digging samples and collaborations with hip-hop artists likeFreddie Gibbs, Madlib and Brockhampton. Frazer also experimented with samples for thefirst time on a record, drawing from unexpected sources like 90s R&B group Hi-Five.Though Into the Blue is born out of heartbreak, Frazer hopes it leaves listeners with a senseof optimism. "You know, you can still laugh on a day when you're grieving," he says, "there'sno peaks without valleys," he says, but Into The Blue sees Aaron Frazer at new heights.