Eric Sharp & Tenova’s Alluring “Slow Me Down” Single: Idolator Premiere

Bianca Gracie | October 6, 2015 6:58 am

If you’ve been paying attention to music in 2015, it has become quite clear that the UK knows how to do dance and pop very well — but don’t think our native producers here in the States aren’t on that same wave! Los Angeles’ own Eric Sharp is one of the acts leading the new ride, and his new single “Slow Me Down” — which we at Idolator are premiering today (October 6) — proves just that.

Featuring guest vocals from Australia’s Erin Marshall and assistance from Tenova, “Slow Me Down” takes an unexpected and refreshing turn away from the warm vibes that has been ruling dance music over the year. Instead, the producer creates an icy yet intriguing sonic atmosphere that is elevated by Erin’s nonchalant vocals, metallic synths and sharply hitting percussion. I can hear this one stomping down Parisian fashion runways as well as in the inner corners of the club!

Sharp’s new tune will officially be out Oct 9th via RIS Labs followed by the instrumental and dub versions on Oct 22nd. In 2013, the producer signed to Win Music (home of Duke Dumont, Tiga, and more) and released his EP Sharp Cuts which featured original tracks with Anna Lunoe, Daisy O’Dell and Siouxsie Black, and George Cochrane.

Here’s what Eric Sharp had to say about the tune:

“My inspirations for this type of moody, deep, melodic jam would be Kidnap Kid, Jonas Rathsman, Human Life, Booka Shade. Sometimes I like playing minimal productions with a soulful slice of vocals on top. Like many tracks these days, the production of this song was definitely a journey. It started as a little jam session with my friends Milana and Killa Karma at their studio here in LA. They normally make big room tunes together so I was showing them some of my deep house production techniques and we put some nice little melodies and chords down. I then took the session home and did some more work on it. I kind of forgot about the track and was focused on other projects until I met Tenova and he asked if I had any drafts kicking around that he could work with.

I sent him the session and he took it to another level with the sound design and added some really cool chord changes. At this point I got excited about the track and knew I wanted it to have a vocal. I had just started talking with my managers who put me in touch with Erin Marshall, an Australian vocalist who had recently moved to LA. I checked out her work and really loved her voice so I sent her the tune. She said she had a great idea for a vocal melody and sent it back with lyrics that really nailed the vibe we were going for. I took it to George at Echo Lake Audio for a final mix and had my good friend Chris Arvan do the mastering.”

Give “Slow Me Down” multiple spins below.

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