The Mix 034: Kelly Lee Owens

Since breaking through as a guest vocalist on Daniel Avery’s seminal 2013 album ‘Drone Logic’, Kelly Lee Owens has carved a niche as one of the most intriguing talents working in the electronic music space today. Across three previous albums released across 2017 to 2022, the Welsh artist has honed a sound that combines stark techno and electronica with entrancing melodies and dreamlike, otherworldly vocals. Her latest album, ‘Dreamstate’, comes in the wake of 2022’s ‘LP.8’ but is referred to by Kelly as her third ‘proper commercial album’. “‘LP.8’ was recorded just after the COVID pandemic and was my way of coping and getting through that moment,” she explains. “It was a reflection of my deep subconscious but is almost an outlier to the rest of my records.”

Released on dh2 - the brand-new dance-focused Dirty Hit sub-label from The 1975’s George Daniel - ‘Dreamstate’ sees Kelly amp up the joy, euphoria and elation in her music, citing experimental pop music made by the likes of William Orbit at the tail end of the ‘90s as a key influence. “The album’s about embracing the moment and trying to reach a state of collective euphoria quicker,” says Kelly. “We’ve seen how quickly the world can fall apart so it’s like, let’s embrace that in a way and live in the present and try and make what we want to happen a reality.”

Ahead of the album’s release, we caught up with Kelly to chat throwing raves in North Wales, working with the Chemical Brothers and why it’s finally time to enter the 'Dreamstate'.

How was your summer? It must be nice doing DJ gigs at festivals knowing the album’s in the bag for autumn.

Well, I was still mixing the album during the summer but I knew I had the body of work pretty much done so I was in a kind of liminal space. I went to Australia to do The Warehouse Project over there and it was beautiful getting that energy back from the crowd every night, reminding me why I do it. ‘Love You Got’ was the only track ready from the new album and I’ve never seen a reaction like that when I’ve played an unreleased track before. Everyone was singing it back to me. Then I went to Glastonbury for the first time. I was playing Levels just before Charli XCX’s Partygirl set and then we ended up going all over the festival with Charli leading about 20 of us and getting us in everywhere. We ended up in NYC Downlow which was amazing.

You also threw a free rave in Bethesda, North Wales, with Dan Snaith, AKA Caribou. How did that come about?

Dan’s an amazingly generous person and has been throwing all these free raves for people. Then I just texted him one day and said, ‘Me, you, North Wales rave?’. He just texted back ‘that’s one of the best ideas I’ve ever heard.’ Then we worked out when we were free and spent two and a half weeks organising it and figuring out who else was free. Myself, Dan and David Wrench, who mixed my album, all took the train down and it was quite surreal to be on the train with Caribou as we passed my village. It was actually the night of the general election and the energy in the room was visceral. People were so pleased that we’d brought something to them and it was free. It’s so important to me to bring something to communities that are forgotten about and show they deserve to have great art on their doorstep. I was obsessed with ‘Swim’ when it came out in 2009 and that was actually mixed by David [Wrench] near Bethesda so it was this amazing full circle moment.

Read this next: Kelly Lee Owens is inspiring transcendental moments

Tell us about the new album. It feels like there’s been a line in the sand drawn over what’s gone before.

Well, if you look at the album artwork, this one’s in colour and the artwork for my previous albums was all in black and white. There’s intention in everything I do and it’s signifying that I’m exploring my pop roots and popping into technicolour. I grew up in the '90s and pop was the thing. So many big dance tracks were in the charts back then and that’s how so many of us first got introduced to dance music. I’m really influenced by things like the Madonna records William Orbit was producing at the end of the '90s. They were big number one records but with some quite abstract and experimental production in there. So I’m exploring different parts of me and my influences unashamedly and bringing all these things together in a way that’s still ultimately me. The track ‘Sunshine’ was actually made in the sessions with Jon Hopkins for ‘Luminous Spaces’ all the way back in 2019. It felt a bit too shiny and bright to be me at the time but I put it aside and it kind of informed the direction I took next.

It definitely feels euphoric and exuberant and the sound’s bigger than your other records. You’ve got some pretty big collaborators too in Ed from The Chemical Brothers and Bicep.

The track I made with Ed, ‘Ballad (In The End)’, was actually meant for the last Chemical Brothers album. He was sending me stems to work on and he sent me one banger and one ballad. It’s funny because that’s what I actually think this album is, bangers and ballads. I worked on the ballad and I recorded the whole track in one take - which I never normally do - then sent it to him as a demo vocal. He was like, ‘this is it, you’ve done it, just add what else you think it needs.’ Eventually, I convinced him to let me use it for my album and added extra production and got an amazing artist called Raven Bush, who’s actually Kate Bush’s nephew, to add strings to it. He’s amazingly talented. I’ve never had live strings on a track before and instead of hiring a whole orchestra, I just hired Raven. He’s a genius.

The album’s definitely got a dreamlike feel to it. Is that why you decided to call it 'Dreamstate'?

Yes and no. The name actually comes from a picture of me that was taken in Cardiff last summer. I was playing with Chemical Brothers at a big outdoor gig and I had some pictures taken during the day. One was next to some graffiti which said ‘Dreamstate’. Then months later, I was in the studio trying to name the track which became ‘Dreamstate’. I looked at an amp in the corner which had ‘Dream Hire’ written on it, wrote it down, crossed out ‘Hire’ and replaced it with ‘State’. Then I found the picture later which I’d totally forgotten about. So there’s this weird serendipity to it. I want my record’s to feel like world’s and journeys. It’s like ‘Welcome to the fucking dreamstate. We’re going in!’

You’re fiercely proud of your Welsh roots. How much of an influence has Wales and its landscape had on you? There’s definitely a sense of wide open spaces in your music.

I don’t think I could have made any of the music I’ve made without coming from Wales. I feel like there’s a lot of natural elements in my music, spirituality and a real connection to nature and that all comes from growing up in Wales. Then the other side of my music comes from moving to London and staring out of my window at tower blocks and that’s where the grittier side of it comes from. I remember reading an interview with Björk where she talked about walking to school in Iceland and there being all these peaks and troughs in the landscape which impacted her music and that’s what we’ve got too. Where I’m from in Wales, the landscape is breath-taking but it’s harsh too. It’s not quaint and pretty like the stereotypical idea of the English countryside. It’s a landscape that challenges you. I love how much the voice is revered in Wales too. It’s really at the forefront of our culture and we’re all encouraged to sing. The places we grow up have an indelible impact on all of us and the longer I live away from Wales, the more perspective I have on just how much it’s influenced me.

Read this next: We took Orbital's Phil Hartnoll to a free party in the Welsh countryside

What’s your dream for the future?

I’m just hoping to commune as many people together as possible. It’s about creating a safe space for us all to positively escape. If I can orchestrate that and bring hope and energy to people, then my dream will have come true.

Can you tell us about your mix?

I went for a mixture of the new and the old and where those places meet. Newer tracks I’m loving and some classics from the likes of Underground Resistance - paying homage to where we’ve been, and where we are now as a dance community.

'Dreamstate' is out now via dh2, check it it here

Sean Griffiths is a freelance writer, follow him on Twitter

Tracklist:
Dreamstate intro - Kelly Lee Owens
Dreamstate - Kelly Lee Owens
Bass camp - Alpha 808
Mido - YAK
Smoke City - Eich & Korzi
New Years Day Acid - John Tejada
Circus Bells (Hardfloor Remix) - Robert Armani
Dimension - Matrefakt
Together - Shcuro
Sunshine (club edit) - Kelly Lee Owens
Zakmina - Burnin
I Need U - unreleased
Love You Got (club edit) - Kelly Lee Owens
Go! - George Daniel remix
Melt! - Kelly Lee Owens
Silversonic (Josh Wink Interpretation) -
The Final Frontier (Nomadico Remix) - Underground Resistance
Be Aware (Truncte Remix) - Josh Wink
Vamp - Outlander
Higher remix - Kelly Lee Owens x Oscar Farrell