Swedish producer DJ Seinfeld returns with his brand new album ‘Mirrors’.
If much of DJ Seinfeld’s previous work was characterised by a sepia-tinged haze, a result of
the producer’s deliberately lo-fi production techniques, then brand new album ‘Mirrors’ sees
his music come firmly into focus.
“On this album I wanted to retain a lot of the raw emotionality that brought people to my music
in the first place,” says Armand Jakobsson, better known as DJ Seinfeld. “But I also wanted to
become a much better producer. It’s been an arduous process but it’s a real statement of
where I’m at as a producer and person right now. I’ve been through various sonic
explorations in the past few years but have come to understand what people like about my
music and how to move forward with it.”
Recorded between Berlin and Malmo, ‘Mirrors’ is the follow-up to Seinfeld’s critically
acclaimed 2017 debut album ‘Time Spent Away From U’ and his first for Ninja Tune. Named
after a quote by Armand’s favourite writer, Argentinean novelist Julio Cortázar, the album
finds the producer in a more settled and grounded mood after an unfortunate family incident
forced the producer to spend more time at home in his native Sweden over the past few
years.
“My dad had a stroke a few years ago which means I need to be home more to help,” he
says. “Aside from the obvious tragedy of the situation, it’s also helped ground me in reality.
Even when I was at the peak of touring, I’ve always had something I’ve had to come home to
and contribute to and it’s meant I’ve grown up a lot and really seen the importance of having a
happy relationship and a good group of friends around who will nurture you and appreciate
your idiosyncrasies.”
“I saw this quote from Cortázar recently, which says ‘You were always my mirror, to see
myself I had to look at you,’ and it just made sense in relation to this album. I don’t know who
I am but perhaps it’s easier to see the silhouettes through things like heartbreak, family
trauma, but also through the peculiar flickers of light and love that enter your life. If the first
album was about getting past a breakup, this one is trying to understand who’s standing on
the finish line. This album is my mirror.”
Rising to prominence in 2016 as part of the lo-fi house scene alongside producers including
Ross From Friends and Mall Grab, DJ Seinfeld (whose name is a result of extended sessions
watching the classic American sitcom after a breakup and move to Barcelona) released his
debut album in 2017 which received plaudits from Rolling Stone and Pitchfork to name a
couple. It also gained attention from contemporaries like Flume, Flying Lotus, Bonobo and
Four Tet and saw Seinfeld become a globally in-demand DJ playing sets everywhere from
Glastonbury to Coachella, Warehouse Project, Sónar By Night and MoMaPS1, sharing
stages with everyone from Jeff Mills to Stormzy, Underworld and Bicep as well as
accompanying Disclosure on several dates of their US tour. In 2018 he became part of a
select group of DJs that includes Moodymann, DJ Koze and Nina Kraviz when he was
chosen to curate an edition of the iconic DJ Kicks mix series. To top it off, Aphex Twin began
playing his track ‘Sakura’ in his live shows.
2019 saw Seinfeld launch his Young Ethics label with the ‘Galazy’ EP, which saw support
from The Blessed Madonna, Gerd Janson, Jamie Jones and Maceo Plex as well as being
preserved for cultural record in the Swedish Royal Library’s Archive For Sound. In the same
year he also recorded an Essential Mix for Radio 1. Over the years Seinfeld has remixed
Disclosure, Omar Souleyman, George Fitzgerald, Bob Moses, Honey Dijon, SHOUSE,
Pendulum, Prospa, MJ Cole, Baltra and more.
Simultaneously optimistic and melancholic in tone, the album is preceded by the single ‘U
Already Know’, an italo-tinged summer anthem in waiting featuring an acapella from guestvocalist
Teira, whom Seinfeld met while DJing at a warehouse party in LA.
“That track is very much in the vein of music I’ve released on Young Ethics recently,” he says.
“There’s a touch of Italo and it’s got a real funk feel to it. I was happy with it as an
instrumental but I added the vocal and it just fitted perfectly and brought the track to life.”
The deliberately naïve production techniques initially used on Seinfeld’s music belie the fact
that he is from a long-line of classical musicians and has been playing classical piano from
the age of 10. “My dad used to be an opera singer and he met my mum at a musical
Conservatoire in Copenhagen,” he tells us. “She’s now a piano teacher and plays flute while
my sister is a professional cellist and opera singer too. I can appreciate classical music but I
reached a point where I felt Chopin didn’t have all the answers I was looking for!”
With the world slowly waking up, thoughts have turned to creating a live show, with Seinfeld
currently working with an esteemed, world class music and lighting designer. He’s already
booked to close the Ray-Ban Stage at Primavera in 2022 (with Bicep, Jamie xx and
Disclosure announced to close the other days), with more live date announcements imminent.
“It’s been nice to have time away to reflect and recuperate,” he tells us. “But I’m looking
forward to getting back to those moments on the road where life becomes a little Anthony
Bourdain-esque.”
Citing late night sessions learning how to produce on his laptop while at university in
Edinburgh and ‘pretending to be Burial’ as key turning points in his journey, Seinfeld has now
produced an album with all the emotional depth and musical dexterity of those electronic
luminaries. ‘Mirrors’ touches on everything from UK Garage to down-tempo house to ambient
to breaks and is an at times tender, at times euphoric sonic journey with a producer slowly
realising his full potential.
