Flume plans to head in new direction for third album

by: Austin Evenson Aug 25, 2016

It was four long years between Flume‘s debut full-length and his sophomore LP, Skin, but for most fans, it was well worth the wait.

Coupling sawtooth synths with captivating hooks from the likes of Tove Lo and Kai, Skin came with an incredible amount of sonic depth as Flume converged the worlds of organic and synthetic sounds. The Australian pioneer recently sat down with home-country publication InTheMix to dive into a number of topics post-Skin, including his upcoming US tour, the connection between his new live show and the album, and even his plans for his third album.

Starting the discussion off with details on his new live show, Harley Streten went on to describe how his past success facilitated the collaboration process for his latest album and allowed names like Little Dragon, Beck, and Raekwon to be a part of it.

“I had a lot of doors open up to me that I didn’t have open prior,” he says. “I was able to work with people that I look up to, who I was inspired by writing the first record.”

Although his sophomore LP is only a few months old, Flume is already beginning to sketch a plan for his third album. While Skin held mostly collaborations with vocalists, Flume revealed later on in the discussion that the album would be based upon producer collaborations instead like teaming up with Clams Casino.

“I want to work with other guys that sit in dark rooms and do music on the computer,” he explains. “I feel like often I get inspired when I sit down with other producers and hear the way they do different things, and what they’re using. Because to me, probably the most inspiring thing … about what I do is technology.”

Instead of focusing on the refined aesthetic of Skin, the Australian beatmaker plans to experiment with sample manipulation and head into a more lo-fi sound direction:

“Now that I’ve put Skin out, I’m like… awesome! I’ve done my big, grandiose, clean record, with lots of big sawtooth sounds. Now I’m kind of bored of it, and I want to do lots of more sample-based stuff, like actual world sounds. So, like, maybe a vocal that’s been recorded and make it into a chord. I kinda want to go a little more lo-fi, I guess. But that’s how it works – you get excited about one thing, then you go to the opposite for a bit.”

What’s more, Streten has already invested in a van that he plans to make into a portable studio with a bed and head out on a trip into nature to find his next album’s inspiration.