New Age Swag Autarkic

Mule Musiq welcomes Tel Aviv born musician Nadav Spiegel aka Autarkic to its multidimensional label roster, releasing his fifth studio album “New Age Swag”. Since 2015 Autarkic has published four albums on befriended labels like Disco Halal, Life And Death or Garzen Records, plus countless EP’s on imprints like Turbo, Höga Nord or Optimo Music. Besides his solo work, he is also part of collaborative projects like Funderground together with Ivan Smagghe, The Utilities with local buddy Gladys Lazer or the loose supergroup The Kloom, consisting of musicians Salon Des Amateurs resident Lukas Croon. In all his musical endeavors, he playfully juggles with styles, atmospheres, and rhythms, touching ground with genres like tribal, downbeat, Nu-Disco, Synth-Pop, house, Lo-Fi Rock, Shoegaze, and other sorts of leftfield grooves. “New Age Swag” makes no difference. It offers a diverse range of styles, while keeping the experimentation level in balance with seducing harmonious elements and suggestive rhythms. Tunes like the fruity jacking “A Petion for Grace”, the jazzy “Stunt Lady” or the uplifting house gem “Modern Love” distribute gentle pop particles that sometimes dance with supernatural club tune moments. Arrangements like the album title track “New Age Swag” or “Meta Dreams” slam cosmic through downtempo trance and tribal zones, while tracks like “Farewell to 70-72”, “Cymbals Powder Rush”, or “Modern Love” are ready to enlighten the bigger floors with melodic depth and surprisingly entertaining groove story arcs. The ambiance gets rounded down by journey-music leaning “Breeder”, a stoic drumming psyched-out trip full of crazed nervous synth sounds, the ancient female singing ambient meets house voyage “Soux Falls”, or “No In, No Out”, that sounds like a lost Roger Corman b-movie downbeat stepper from the future, greatly arpeggiated and mildly twisted. A highly poignant album full of fleshly emotions hidden between emotive grooves, appealing melodies, and an overall feeling for the tricky, yet gentle zones of electronic music. To get the whole frenzy, it should be listened off the reel.