Ruven

Horizyn EP

Regular price $28.00
Because people are afraid at the thought of their feet leaving the earth, we turn around one step before reaching the horizon. - Tada Chimako

Dream Diary, the Brixton-based electronic label, is pleased to announce the release of ​Horizyn​ by recording artist and producer Ruven. Recorded during a weeklong lockout at the label’s newly minted Octagon studio, ​Horizyn​ is a three-track “space overture” inspired by science fiction, Afro-futurist comics, and Eastern spiritual practice.

Despite arriving from New York with a suite of demos prepped for production, Parker’s creative flow was piqued by his first visit to London and he started from scratch. Swerving from the minimal techno of his first Dream Diary release ​Pour, he wanted this follow-up to have a greater focus on musicality, composition, and theme. With the studio lights dimmed and a projection of ​Blue Planet ​on repeat, he spent a week deconstructing and molding guitar loops, analog synth patches, vocal melodies, and field recordings into vignettes of the future.

In Parker’s own words, the title track “Horizyn” is inspired by “a triumphant feeling of journeying toward the horizon.” The backbeat-driven “Lunaplex” imagines “a sensual, technologic ritual below the ocean's surface.” And “Ajna,” the meditative closing track, “was guided by a universal feminine energy—it's the most spiritual and sentimental of the songs.”

Brian Parker was born in Hampton, Virginia, and spent his formative years studying percussion, guitar, and voice while absorbing the visionary sounds of local legends like The Neptunes, Timbaland, and Missy Elliot. While living in New York, his eponymous electronic pop project landed him in songwriting sessions with Sony Music/Epic Records, and he began producing electronic music under the Ruven alias as a contrast to his more accessible work. His forthcoming projects bridge the gap between these domains and incorporate hip-hop, R&B, and soul influences.