Next Wave #602: Bayou

Futuristic, blissful dream-pop…

Pop, it’s been said, is a bit like bubble gum: you chew it up, savouring the sugary taste, and then spit it out once it’s lost its flavour.

“I’m obsessed with pop music,” urges Bayou. “I love Katy Perry and Ariana Grande, but I’m not gonna make music like that. I’d like to make a sort of broken version of it, if you see what I mean.”

“I’ve got really obsessed with reading about the Swedish producers,” the Londoner elaborates, “who’re responsible for all the hits you can think of over the last 10 years – Max Martin did all the Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys stuff, Dr. Luke’s done Rihanna.”

But Bayou – real name Hari Ashurst – is well versed in more than just production. He’s a gifted music scribe, having written for Pitchfork and the BBC – “It’s weird, I lose all ability to judge my own stuff. I’m my own worst critic, though” – and runs his own label, Double Denim. But aged seven was when he first began tinkling the piano keys.

“As I got older I went through genres and picked up each genre’s token instrument,” he explains. “I got really into rock music and started playing guitar, then hip-hop and I bought a sampler.” His sound now, he supposes, is the intersection of all those ideas – “hyperactive” being his tentative choice of description.

The first full showcase of the Bayou sound has been through his mixtape ‘Loopback’, which comes stamped with the kind of artwork you’d be happy to view a whole gallery of.

“I believe in it as a format,” he remarks on his choice of mixtape over album. “If you try and sell yourself too soon as an artist you turn yourself into a product.” ‘Airlock’ gurgles with a ’90s R&B larynx, while on ‘Loopback Cotton’ Hari raps languidly over a white noise hum with the faintest traces of funk. Other tracks, meanwhile, catch him singing with cashmere-soft licks, lyrically exploring youth, nostalgia and disconnection.

This pop is for a generation where everyone’s an art, culture, or music critic. And just like the aforementioned chewy confection, it’s looking likely that Bayou’s gonna blow up.

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WHERE: London

WHAT: Futuristic, blissful dream-pop with themes of nostalgia

GET 3 SONGS: ‘Varsity Jacket’, ‘Cherry Cola’, ‘Thugs’

FACT: Hari’s mum used to go out with the guy who played the sax on ‘Careless Whisper’, and Lemmy from Motörhead used to be their family babysitter.

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Words: Felicity Martin
Photo: Alastair Strong
Fashion: Ian Luka

Bayou online

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