Premiere: Swimful ‘Translation To Heaven (Ikonika Remix)’

Swimful will release a new EP, ‘Rushlight’, via Shanghai’s SVBKVLT this month, featuring remixes from Ikonika and Phelimuncasi. Listen to Ikonika’s remix of ‘Translation To Heaven’ below. 

The seven-track release marks UK-born, Shanghai-based artist's fifth release on the label, and finds him dabbling in fresh sonic territory. Where previous releases like 2017’s ‘Pearls’ and 2019’s ‘Folding Knives’ comprised hyper-colourful takes on sinogrime and cinematic ambient music, ‘Rushlight’ offers a distinctive, fusionist take on amapiano and drill.

‘Viatica’ takes the classic, circa 110 BPM beat structure of amapiano and bathes it in an icy melodic atmosphere: it rolls deep like an Arctic current; its trademark log drums distort like the frosted over cogs of a huge machine. ‘Translation To Heaven’, meanwhile, pushes the tempo way up, while Swimful puts a personalised spin on the genre’s bouncing percussive framework.

‘Official Party Line’, ‘Backwards’ and ‘More Distant Approach’ blend drill and amapiano with fluency: rattling percussive patterns, log drum trills and thundering gunshot FX dance around drill bass slides and nocturnal melodies in ways that feel genuinely intuitive and irresistible. 

Durban gqom trio Phelimuncasi put their own spin on ‘More Distant Approach’, adding their own vocals and production from DJ Scoturn. Hyperdub affiliate Ikonika brings ‘Translation To Heaven’ to life with added kalimba-like melodies and sweeping keys. 

‘Rushlight’ will be released on 14th September. Pre-order it here.