What's in a name?
The term folktronica was coined was back in the opening months of the new Millennium, designed to cover everything from Four Tet (well, 'Pause' at least) to the Fence Collective. A moniker abandoned almost as immediately as it was coined, it did at least shed some light on the potential mutual ground between the traditional and the Futurist, the analogue and the digital.
Megan Wyler is often viewed as being folk influenced, but in reality her only link to the traditional scene is a fondness for the acoustic guitar. Capable of crafting gripping, dramatic nuggets of songwriting, the London artist's new single 'The Fraying' is perhaps her most striking work yet.
A duet of sorts with sparring partner and producer Adem – himself overdue a new album – the mood is intimate without being directly confessional. "A lot of the songs are about change and movement" she reflected recently. "A lot are about loss and betrayal and love – and most of those things aren't what I was going through personally, but rather the mood coming out of me at the time.”
Out now, 'The Fraying' comes equipped with an adventurous remix. Matthew Herbert takes control, and (as always) the producer's viewpoint is to tear apart the original song and present something entirely original.
Opening with shuffling, glitchy noises, the ominous bass textures have an organic feel which brings out the darkness within Adem & Wyler's voices.
Listen to it below.
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'The Fraying' is out now.