dd elle readies EP for Babe Rainbow's Slow Release imprint

Cameron Reed starts a new endeavor and readies an EP by up-and-comer Dan Casey.

After playing in Philadelphia bands for years, Casey moved to California in 2010 and started experimenting with electronic music under a variety of aliases. He landed on dd elle in 2014 and quickly caught the ear of Ryan Hemsworth and has drawn comparisons to Jai Paul, The Knife and Sophie.

“I wanted to make an effort to have each second of music mean as much as possible and take crafting sounds and melodies to a new place,” he says. “dd elle is working toward building a very specific world.”

That world is one of warped, wistful pop music that finds Casey writing pitch-shifted melodies, drawing guitar solos and saxophone riffs from 1980s movie soundtracks and instituting his own rules for production, a la Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies.

He will release his debut EP as dd elle, u, on September 25 via Slow Release, a new label founded by Cameron Reed (best known as Warp and 1080p artist Babe Rainbow). We caught up with Reed about the label and dd elle; read below and stream dd elle’s ‘kind 2 u’.

You’ve called the label a “natural evolution of [your] life in music” — can you elaborate?

Like many others, I’ve had a lot of roles in music over the years: I’ve played and toured in a weird punk band, I spent six years as the director of two music festivals, I’ve been a promoter, I’ve regularly DJ’d, I produced and toured as Babe Rainbow releasing on three different labels, and I currently work at a wonderful international record label in Toronto. For years I have wanted to start my own boutique label to focus on projects that I love having been inspired by my friends at Acephale, True Panther, Mood Hut and many others, and Slow Release is that opportunity.

What drew you to dd elle’s music?

I believe dd elle makes absolutely singular music. It’s minimal but rich with emotion, it feels ambient and meandering at times but at it’s core it’s a catchy pop song. It sounds very progressive and modern but there’s a very nostalgic feel to it.

What’s up next for the label?

I am putting together a new Babe Rainbow single and B-side for November, and then we’re preparing a dd elle full length release in 2016.