Barcelona based DJs, Sergio Muñoz and Israel Sunshine, better known together as, Fur Coat have released their sophomore album Polyphony. The title Polyphony is meant to reflect both the album’s sonic diversity and this year where they are celebrating 10 years together as a duo. Poly means many and the album covers haunting progressive house, deep, rumbling melodic techno, groovy indie dance and a bit of everything in between. It all flows together very well for an effortless 65-minute listen.
To get a better idea of how this album came together and how it represents what they are trying to do now, we asked them to break down the LP in a Director’s Cut feature. It is melodic, moving and beautiful and Sergio from Fur Coat breaks down how they made it and how they came to collaborate with the vocalists and other producers on this record.
Fur Coat’s Polyphony is out now on Renaissance now and get your copy here. Stream it as you read.
1. Water of Life
As a second album project, and seeing the album as a whole story, the intro is a must. Believe it or not, the intro was the first track made for the album. I focused on creating something really dreamy, really smooth and beatless that welcomes you into the journey.
2. New Species
This started with the idea of experimenting with new grooves. I had the idea for the square bass, which was done on the Elektron Analog Four MKII – a key piece of the sound for this album. After creating a main sequence, all the rest of the things started to compliment. It has that machine feel, with these very robotic transposed words.
3. Stay Away
“Stay Away” was done during the peak of Covid crisis. I was in the studio everyday working on ideas, and as a routine I was watching the news, and got to record this part. It is bombarding people with the constant order to stay at home. I think the whole spoken words matched the vibe of the track. The sounds were created with the Sub Phatty, Elektron and some VSTS for the pads like the Omnisphere and Pigments.
4. Shades
“Shades,” I believe, was one of the first dance-floor tracks I had ready and wanted to include in the album. It's very bassy, but with a haunting and catchy melody. I worked a very dramatic drop, playing around with the Moog. When I showed this one to Marcus and Geoff from Renaissance, they wanted it right away for the album.
5. Alloy with Hunter/Game
With the Hunter/Game guys (Martino and Emanele), we have a long-time relationship, as we first met at a festival in the Netherlands. We played the same stage, and at the hotel we started having a conversation over dinner. We again met at several places like ADE and Beirut. So, from there we stayed in contact. After sharing a lot of music and all having a similar taste in music, especially with our labels (Oddity & Just This). The first collaboration was having them on remix Øostil on Oddity. Then we discussed a collaboration in the future and when I told them about the album, they were into it. Our workflow was via Dropbox, with ping pong of an idea I had started, then they sent the parts and reworked, and I finalized, and mixed in my studio.
6. Hurricane ft. Running Pine
I got interested in working with Running Pine after hearing his vocals on a collaboration with Mind Against and Blausch. I met Blausch during a gig we had at Watergate. We kept in touch via email and WhatsApp, and when I was searching for ideas for a vocalist for the album, I asked him to introduce me to Payman (Running Pine). So, after creating a WhatsApp group we started discussing ideas, and sent him a first draft on something for a vocal. After some back and forth of ideas, he showed me something he had recorded a while ago, and I instantly loved it.
So Payman re-recorded the vocals in a studio in Iran where he is at and sent over. I instantly knew I wanted to give a more band feel on this. There was a lot of search in real drums samples and how to make a sounding bass real. I managed to get a plug in that actually sounded like a real bass, with some extra processing I did. Then all came together really smooth.
7. 3.33 ft. Julian Wassermann
Julian Wassermann and I met over the internet too, as I was playing some of his music. We also clicked really quick. He is a very talented and quick working producer, that’s why we understood each other really fast. After inviting him to our Odd Echoes series on our label, I asked him what he thought of trying something out together.
After sending some ideas to him, he came back with some parts, which I worked on and had the track ready in a couple of days. When we were thinking of the name for the track, I just watched the hour it was ready to bounce and told him let's put “3.33,” LOL! It’s a nice number, we both agreed.
8. Fur Coat – Rebirth
This one was inspired in doing something melodic, celestial with pads and chords, very emotional, but to keep the energy and was able to be for the dance floor. Also, the presence of key synths like the Moog Sub Phatty, the Elektron Analogue Four MKII and plugins like Omnisphere, Pigments and Massive X played a key part on the sound design.
9. Fur Coat – No Tomorrow
The approach was jamming with the Sub Phatty, the Electron Analogue Four MKII, Maschine and some VSTS. Wanted to keep this experimental in a way that what happened was kind of in one take of a jam. So basically, layered all the jam, and afterwards did some arrangement that kept it very organic and natural to its form.
10. Elysian ft. Sly Faux
Sly Faux is also a guy I consider a friend now. We also started talking on Instagram, as he requested a remix for one of his tracks. He sent me the parts, I played with the idea, but in the end, this didn’t get released. I invited him to do something for Odd Echoes.
I really like him because he is a very genuine, relaxed, fast and hardworking guy. When I told him to collaborate, it also went really smooth. Was fun working on Dropbox with a guy on the other side of the earth, as he lives in Australia, but that’s the beauty of the internet. We really clicked on the idea I sent him. He got it right away what the track was missing, and we turned it into something very anthemic and emotional.
11. Eye of the Storm ft. Delhia de France
It's our second track ft Delhia de France. We have already collaborated with her on Watergate and remixed her on her label Eat the Fruit. We have also built this relationship where ideas flow back and forth. We totally relied on her voice, recording and lyrics; she is a genius.
The first idea was from a loop that first was oriented as a dance-floor track, but for some reason it didn’t quite fit like that, I wasn’t happy. Then I thought, with such a beautiful vocal, why don’t we work on something more stripped down and dark, kind of cinematic soundtrack. After changing the focus into making something more electronica oriented, this result came. We were all happy on this one, and thought it was the perfect addition for the album.
12. Fur Coat – Cosmos
Inspired by Vangelis. I think we all love Vangelis' work, he is a genius. Let’s say it’s a tribute to him, with the sounds and the dreamy movie feel on this one. I think it's the perfect emotional closure for the story of Polyphony.
