Finnish artist M announces a debut EP of devilish experimental pop on the Berlin label Unguarded
M is the musical alias of M Lore Wingren, a Helsinki-based composer of experimental pop music. Their sound universe is made up of catchy melodies and sharp, crystalline percussion, to which are added different vocal layers and textures. As well as producing, M also designs their own machines, which they use for their live act, which they have presented at festivals such as Transmediale, Berliner Festspiel, and Ars Electronica.
Their first EP, NEW ME, will be released on 23 June on the Unguarded label. The lyrics on this project are both ironic and dreamlike. Introspective and cathartic, NEW ME is a compendium of emotions concentrated into less than fifteen intense minutes. It’s a quarter of an hour in which M unveils their fascinating universe, described with compelling metaphors and sibylline comments in the press release accompanying the release. On the opening track ‘Lava’, for example, the rhythmic patterns are created using automated BPMs, and the author wishes “good luck playing this track [in a DJ set]”. On the track “Fake”, “a squeaky mattress sings the chorus”. On “Night Bus”, “the synths are woven from the voices of angels”.
NEW ME is about constructing, destroying, and becoming oneself.
M
Ahead of the release, M gave us the eponymous track, ‘New Me’, which you can listen to in this article. The track, which closes the EP, is a club anthem made up of warm, comforting sounds. Some of the sounds are field recordings (woodstove recordings), while others come from Buchla and Serge modular synthesizers, which M used during a residency at Elektronmusikstudion Stockholm.
Founded in 2020, Unguarded is a Berlin-based label and artistic platform that seeks to encourage avant-garde artists to collaborate and produce interdisciplinary sound works.
Artwork by Noah Wingren.
Pre-order NEW ME by M on Bandcamp, official release 23 June via Unguarded.
