Arches Mixtape is out now!
Image: BANE.
Genre-defying duo Arches have dropped their new EP, Arches Mixtape. To celebrate the release, one hald of the duo, Mason Rowley, is taking MILKY through the release track by track!
“As producers we’re constantly creating new material and are often experimenting with different styles and genres. Our different production styles come together nicely and this mixtape is an ode to that.”shares Mason Rowley of Arches.
“Arches has always written music more or less the same. Either Sam or I will come up with an initial beat or melodic phrase in their bedroom on their laptop, or in the car or something, and then bounce that over to the other person. The other person will then build upon that idea, adding or taking what the feel, it needs, and the process repeats until we have a whole song. For the final steps we’ll always meet in the recording studio to polish it up.”
NOTHING LASTS FOREVER
Nothing Lasts Forever is one our favourite songs we’ve made together yet. We love how upbeat and retro it feels, but how depressing the lyrics sort of are. At the time we were also really inspired by artists like beabadoobee, The 1975 and LCD Soundsystem and we really love the whole feel of the song.
The song is sort of an ode to the sad honest truth that literally nothing lasts forever; be it relationships, jobs, youth, it all comes to an end eventually. A lot of people also have listened to that song and said to us “oh man that song really help me through my breakup” or something like that, and for that we’re really happy.
COOCHIE HYDROGREEN
Coochie Hydrogreen was the second song we ever finished together. We both listen to a really broad range of musical genres and styles and this song is a product of that. We’d been listening to a lot of hyperpop at the time but our rock roots still come through in terms of melody, drums, lyrics and arrangement. We went a bit crazy with the production with this one but it’s basically just a wall of noise that’s hard, fast and loud, and we love it like that.
LONELY
Lonely is our version of an LA sad-boy rap song where we play with lyrical and melodic rap tropes. When producing the beat we were aiming for a nostalgic, slightly dark-neon vibe which we think we nailed. It also gave us a chance to really test Sam’s vocal rage and ability to sing in different styles. It was the first time he’s rapped on a track and we instantly loved how it sounded. He can really sing smooth R&B or heavy rap and it’s really apparent on this track that he’s got what it takes to rap.
ROMEO AND JULIET
I (Mason) produced Romeo and Juliet when I was hammering The 1975’s Notes on a Conditional Form album on repeat, which I think is pretty obvious when listening to the track. I loved the nostalgic, atmospheric and emotional elements of that album and tried to incorporate those themes into a few songs I had written at the time. I worked really hard on the production for this track as it was a pretty new style for me, but I really love the end result. In my opinion it’s a big, euphoric love song with energy enough dance or cry to.
HIDE OUT
Lastly is a track called Hide Out. Initially Sam had gotten down this amazing guitar loop (heard in the intro and throughout the song) and we just slowly over a few months built more and more on the song. There’s really not much to it; some interesting lyrics, massive drums, and eclectic production featuring 808s and nylon string guitars. It basically embodies everything that Sam and I try to achieve in our production. It’s a short, fast, loud indie pop song which we think most people will like or find interesting at least.
Arches Mixtape is out now!