Bio

If you’re tapped in you already know all about kurtains. The songwriter, producer, and mixing engineer (who’s been mastering records since his teenage years, too), first began releasing songs in 2020 when he was stuck at home during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Life in Llanelli, Wales didn’t have a ton to offer in terms of the creative arts. He originally began by embracing SoundCloud as both a music discovery platform and a way to build his own burgeoning music career. kurtains quickly found communities across both ponds. through Discord channels, becoming close with artists like glaive, wido, ericdoa, and others.

“It would be, wake up, make beat, record vocals, go to bed, repeat,” he explains, reliving those earlier years of his career. kurtains became known as “the architect,” working on production, mixing, and mastering for a number of projects affiliated with his crew. Last year, he reemerged after a brief hiatus fully-formed as a songwriter, showcasing his most successful EP to date, florence fields. The project showcases his musical acumen—he’s got breathtaking chops as a singer, producer, and songwriter. Now, the 21-year-old is primed for his second breakout with sandy nevermore, which is both in conversation with its predecessor and the strongest collection of songs he’s penned to date.

kurtains’ precision, plus the textures in his arrangements, highlight his inimitable eye for detail while still allowing plenty of space for his earworm sense of melody. He looked to Drain Gang icons like Bladee and Ecco2K as inspirations. While that spirit was most apparent on florence fields, sandy nevermore is deeply informed by the classics, Tom Petty, and his personal GOAT, Michael McDonald. All this to say, sandy nevermore has hooks for days from all sorts of sonic touchstones; it’s the thread that connects the record, whether he’s diving into deep house, indie rock, plugg-leaning rap, or acoustic rock jams.

Nothing is off-limits to kurtains on sandy nevermore, which began as a spiritual sequel to florence fields. “They’re kind of linked in writing and storytelling. Both projects are about one situation, at two different periods of time,” he explains. “These are from the same story.”

Sonically, it’s miraculous how much ground he covers from EP to EP, song to song. “sandy is the aftermath of the infatuation. It’s what happens after losing a feeling that completely takes over every aspect of your being.”

These are songs of regret and remorse, but kurtains brings an unrelenting energy to the project thanks to the eager experimentation of its seven songs. No two moments sound the same, no idea is off limits.

Opener “ego death” is a vulnerable, diaristic track that interpolates the pondering guitars of 90s alt-rock to highlight his near-falsetto and layers of harmonies. “save u,” just a few

tracks later, builds from an organ riff before playing with the skittering percussion of underground electro music. He shifts between these two worlds seamlessly, ruminating on a former love that still lingers. “dodging“ introduces a playful, celebratory spirit that recalls some of the members of his crew, slowsilver03, which includes glaive, osquinn, and others. Elsewhere, “something must be going on” blends the ecstasy of Chicago house with 80s R&B.

This desire to expand his stylistic scope into a number of different genres first emerged when he began writing the EP. It was a vision that he struggled to honor originally. The project went through a number of iterations and began percolating in kurtains’ brain over two years ago. It was a realization, a new understanding of his own abilities, that allowed him to push through and create this one-of-a-kind project. “I’m confident enough in my vision to know that I can pull this off,” he explains. “Because whatever I do, it’s still going to sound like me. That’s a great feeling.”