Symrun announces forthcoming album, ‘WDYD?’

Experimental artist Symrun has announced his forthcoming LP, ‘WDYD’ and dropped a single alongside, ‘Once’.

‘Once’ has an uplifting element to it, with bejewelled samples dotted throughout.

It’s accompanied by low-fi visuals shot in Leeds, where Symrun is currently based.

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“This song was really inspired by Swimful,” Symrun explains. “He is really able to make music sound soaring, and I think that’s my favourite feeling. Lots of little kawaii samples in this one, I think I just wanted to make a cute club banger. I think I wrote and recorded it in a couple days, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Pitch really made this one sound so cinematic.”

On the video, he notes his inspiration and motivation to capture Leeds in a rather different way. “I was inspired by gab3 videos - nice to see the north/Leeds on camera in a way that isn’t too ‘gritty and aggressive’. I had fun in the toy store depicted at the end of the video - I really love dolls from the Sonic series. I watched the Sonic film with Jim Carey recently, I really related to the loneliness Sonic experienced. We had to stabilise some of the footage in post production afterwards and it gives some of the video this nice wavy and immersive feel.”

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‘Once’ provides a taster for Symrun’s upcoming ‘What Do You Do?’ LP, dropping on March 4. The 10 track compilation intends to have deeper meaning - nodding to a ‘burnt out youth’ who are questioning what the future might hold for them.

The album will include a mixture of vocal samples and effects combined with various basslines and melodies too.

Symrun - currently based in Leeds but born in Grimsby and recently based in Sheffield and London - released his debut LP ‘Care Work’ in 2019, with releases since on personal imprint Gochu Village.

You can access Symrun’s latest single ‘Once’ here, or check out the album ‘What Do You Do?’ to pre-order here.

Niamh Ingram is Mixmag’s Weekend Editor, follow her on Twitter