The Beat Escape Take A Risk On ‘Nemo Propheta’

And it pays off, too...

Ahead of their debut album "Life Is Short The Answer's Long", The Beat Escape share the album closer 'Nemo Propheta' and reflect on mixing the record with Finland's Jori Hulkkonen.

Jori's Been a massive inspiration for us dating back to around 2001. His Helsinki Mix Sessions on Turbo as well as Sunglasses At Night were total life changers and we've followed his career ever since.

Having some relatively close "family connections" we've become friends throughout the years and so working together was a great privilege.

At the beginning of the work, we asked Jori how many mixing revisions would be usual protocol with him? He answered back: "Usual protocol does not concern me. We do as many revisions as YOU want as you can release only one debut album, and it needs to be exactly what you want. 100%. Otherwise we ALL will feel we fucked up."

This was when we knew we were in good hands. There was a slight hiccup throughout the process though. As we all know, there is seldom a clear path during a creative endeavour.

When graced with luck and energy to persevere however, it is often these blocks in the road that lead to the most rewarding of outcomes. About half-way through the mixing schedule Jori stopped replying to our emails. He'd mixed five tracks and they were sounding fantastic but then we just got radio silence. Like for two weeks. That might not seem like so much time, but in our state of near panic, every hour of each day filled with no reply felt like eternity.

In desperation, we considered all options. Should we sent Jori a several thousand euro money transfer? We wanted to but couldn't afford it. Was this a situation of finance? We thought not. It was midnight, on a Tuesday, in March, the studio was cold; we were fucked. We turned on the 808. If we made an Italo track about Jori that was so catchy, he wouldn't be able to hold back an email. This was the answer – the fear was the catalyst. We sketched in our notebooks – ferociously and with high intention – "He dresses all in black, he just never writes us back!" This was good!

From Jori the myth, we discussed Finland, and then of course, Alvar Aalto. Finally – the sailboat that Aalto had designed with the biblical phrase written on it: Nemo Propheta In Patria – translated to english: No Man Is A Prophet In His Own Land. We nailed it! On the cusp of brilliance – we rummaged through our studio till 6am and finished the track. The next day we told our tale – in email form – and Jori smiled.

The rest is history. Well, not quite history. 'Nemo Propheta' is a succulent piece of synth pop, the driving 808s underpinning some yacht rock melodies and sun-kissed lyricism.

It's virtually impeccable – a gamble that paid off. Tune in below.

The Beat Escape will release their new album 'Life Is Short The Answer's Long' tomorrow (April 27th).

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