About a year ago American electronic producer Shallou first caught our attention with the dreamy piece Truth and he hasn’t stopped releasing great material ever since. On his recently released second EP Souls the Maryland-based artist sticks to his tempting formula of pop-infected melodies and beats as well as a certain dreamy and almost melancholy notion. If you happen to love the sound of artists like Tycho and Roosevelt you might also dig Shallou‘s tender electronica, we’re pretty sure.
The sunny notion of his sound made the man a perfect candidate for the overdue restart and rebranding of our popular Smooth Summer Days playlist. As you might know we recently ‘outsourced’ a lot of the guitar-based and more lo-fi sounding tunes into our Sunny Indie Vibes playlist. For cohesive reasons (and for fun) this playlist will now focus on more electronic and groovy sounds, delivering gentle ambient, dreamy techno, dream pop, breakbeats, downbeat and pretty much everything that makes you go ‘chiiiiiiilll’ on hot summer days. Shallou‘s twenty picks open the playlist today and next to his own tunes he also presents favourites from Coldplay, Phoenix and Caribou. Kind as he is he also shared his thoughts about these selected tracks right here.
Vacationer – ‘Good As New’
‘I’ve always loved the way Vacationer layered textures. I miss this anthemic, nostalgic sound, when indie hit its peak in my opinion. This whole album is so inventive and I think inspired many of today’s biggest acts’ sound.’
Tove Styrke – ‘On the Low’
‘I love the minimal production on this one. each sound is so carefully selected and only adds to the arrangement. her voice dances around it so elegantly, and that hook is undeniable.’
Shallou – ‘You and Me’
‘This is my favorite track I’ve released in the last six months-‘ :)
Phoenix – ‘Armistice’
‘I think we often forget how utterly showstopping this album was. This is the best cut in my opinion. If you’ve ever seen them live this one has SO much energy and sonically characterizes exactly what it feels like to be young and full of love.’
Cut Copy – ‘Hearts On Fire’
‘Another cut from the glorious era of 2008-2009 indie pop. This is my favorite kind of music right now and has influenced my writing process a lot. I want to bring back elements of this sound for sure.’
Shallou – ‘Vignette’
‘Vignette is a perfect example of my nostalgia for that sound. (laughs)
Chrome Sparks & Kllo – ‘I Just Wanna’
‘Chrome Sparks is one of the most inventive and uncompromising producers out there. Every synth sound is carefully crafted from an arsenal of analog beauty, and his song structures are never stale. Love Kllo on this one too, these vocals are so strong.’
Keys N Krates & Tory Lanez – ‘Music To My Ears’
‘I discovered Keys N Krates while on tour with Big Gigantic earlier this year, from their lighting guy that also designed Keys’ show. They choose and create really cool samples and their ‘drop’ sections always sound fresh to me.’
Caribou – ‘Back Home’
‘Caribou is a huge influence on Souls. In fact, he’s one of the main reasons I got into electronic and encouraged me early on in my career to keep at it. I sent him a fan email like 4 years ago and he actually responded, telling me my demos sounded pretty good! It stayed with me ever since.’
Shallou – ‘Lie’
‘Lie – my flagship song at the moment. I loved capturing the female perspective of a rough relationship with writer WENS and singer Riah. They have both have so much talent.’
Emmit Fenn – ‘Lost in Space’
‘This song by my friend Emmit blends all of my favorite genres. He sings with so much soul, and he’s a really kind and funny dude in real life. We’ve been writing together so hopefully something comes of it!’
Coldplay – ‘Midnight’
I was so floored the first time i heard this song I just had to add it here. I really wish they had made more songs like thissss
Lane 8 & POLICA – ‘No Captain’
‘This song builds an insane amount of tension and explodes into a beautiful arpeggiated rhythm several times through out the track. POLICA sings all OVER this track too with so much passion. It might be one of my all time favorite electronic tracks honestly.’
Shallou – ‘. . . Love’
‘My sleepiest (but also most slept on) track, . . . Love. I let loose with the production and tried to paint as calm and entrancing textures as possible here. Big shout out to the people who know this song; I’m going to try and figure out a way to work it into my live set.’
Mansionair – ‘Violet City’
‘I love deeply textured songs like this, and Mansionair always brings the best ear worm melodies.’
Dermot Kennedy – ‘Moments Passed Away’
‘Big change of pace here, but this song has such a unique intensity to it and blends dark folk with electronic in a super interesting way.’
Kasbo & Frida Sundemo – ‘Over You’
‘My favorite track from Kasbo’s new album. He’s a smart and very consistent producer; I’m always left wondering how he got a certain sound.’
Shallou feat. Kasbo & Cody Lovaas – ‘Find’
‘It was a blast to work on Find with him and Cody. I wanted to capture the nomadic spirit of being in a love affair with music.’
Tourist – ‘Hush’
‘A gorgeous gem from Tourist. I feel like every producer adores his music. He’s a big influence on my friend Baynk and I at least. An interesting fact I learned about Tourist recently is that he worked on Stay with Me by Sam Smith. He’s a very versatile artist and weaves between genres with ease.’
Coldplay – ‘Up With the Birds’
‘They are one of the greatest bands in the world. I woke up to this song playing on my speakers one time and it perfectly soundtracked my half-awake, dreamy state.’
The dreamy summer playlist by Shallou was only available for a limited time. It has now merged with NBHAP’s very own picks, creating over five hours of relaxing sounds. Find more information right here.