“Floating (Away)!” : A New Sound From Blue Rivers
Photography by Kian Gannon. Writing and editing by Kian Gannon, in collaboration with Blue Rivers.
“Floating (Away)!” is the latest release from rapper, artist, and multi-medium creative Blue Rivers.
When listening to Floating (Away)! it’s easy to tell that there’s quite a difference in style and the overall sound, when compared to the rest of his discography. “Floating (Away)! was a major adjustment in terms of my workflow and process. I had the melodies of the hook before anything else, so I went to the studio with a single idea and everything came together from there, the instrumental and the verses, all in one go.” says Blue. This differs heavily from his typical process of crafting the instrumental, alongside his producer, and then finding the lyrics and flow. “The goal is to never make it feel like I’m rapping over something that isn’t molded for my style.” says Blue.
Looking into the future, Blue is aiming to pursue this new style and allow his music to be a reflection of himself and whatever he is experiencing. “I listen to all kinds of music and it’s time to let that be reflected in what I put out. My discography is just a record of the key moments that were happening in my life.” says Blue. For example, Blue focuses on the journey of escaping overthinking in his project “Indigostream”, rediscovering freedom and rebellion in his project “BLUEKEN!”, and what to do with that freedom in his project “Clear Path to Nowhere”. Moving forward on this journey of well thought-out releases, Blue is working on a new album that blends rap and the melodic approach taken on Floating (Away)! . The project is titled “i wish i didn’t have to sleep”, created alongside a friend and long-time collaborator Sawan.
Looking deeper into Blue’s ideas and inspirations, it is clear that a blend of genres and sounds contributed to the creation of Floating (Away)!. As well as the fact that the hook for Floating (Away)! was originally written over “She Wants My Money” by Dominic Fike. “It’s funny, I actually stopped listening to rap music for a while and it helped me make better rap music. The shift in what I listened to opened me up to different ways of expressing my ideas. Holy Hive, Toro Y Moi, Matt Martians, and Portishead were some of the biggest players in giving me the confidence to step out of hardcore rapping for a while.” says Blue. While this may not be exactly what we can expect from the next album, Blue is continuing to learn from these artists and craft his next project. Additionally, Matt Martians ability to recognize his strengths and double down on them to create an album like “Drum Cord Theory”, is something that Blue is inspired by and admires about Matt Martians.
Earlier this month, Blue had the opportunity to perform Floating (Away)! for the first time since its release, during his set as a part of GRG CULT. “I had my eyes closed for a bit, just feeling the music and I opened my eyes to the crowd having their flashlights out waving to the song. It was dazzling and something I’ll think about for a long time. It was a nice breath of fresh air for GRG, I loved every second of it.” says Blue.
Heading into the second half of the year, Blue is excited to release his collaborative project with James Weaver and potentially host a release party in the city. Alongside music, Blue has been working on a painting for a few weeks and is looking forward to finishing it. “I’m trying something new so I’m taking forever to finish it. I’m a super slow artist, I like everything to be done before it moves.” says Blue. Despite all the creative work that’s on the way from Blue Rivers, like all of us, Blue is excited to take a break and go on vacation with the homies.
Photography by Kian Gannon
Videography by ten four pictures
Cover by Abby Mair
Written and performed by Blue Rivers
Engineered and produced by Sawan K
Mixed and mastered by Sawan K
Live performance by James Weaver (Drums), Selene (Guitar), Sawan K (Bass) & Blue Rivers (Vocals)
