Tracks That Shaped My Sound: Blean

Being a Liquid Drum and Bass, you would imagine the majority of the influences for Blean would be based around the same genre however, as you will read on, this is no way the case. Blean’s upcoming Reflect on Time EP (Released through Celsius Recordings 15/09/2023) has been massively inspired by music introduced to him by his late parents. So much so that the names of the tracks on the EP all bare relevance to his past life and the struggles of mental health brought on by the loss of loved ones.

With so many emotions pent up, Blean decided to transfer that energy into his music which shows exceptionally in this powerful 4 track EP with each song holding its own deep connection to Blean’s mind.

Blean allowed us a moment to take a step into his sub conscious and reveal exactly what past times developed into this musical journey that he now calls “Reflect on Time”

Enya : May It Be

During my childhood my mother used to listen to Enya religiously. I began to grow a fondness to her haunting, yet powerful voice, and was mesmerized by the atmospheric ambience that filled her songs. When I heard this song during the end credits of Lord of The Rings, it captivated me so much that I would have it going over and over in my head.

Inspiration for my track Anguish Kneels to Empathy

(Track titles spells out the initials of my Mother)

London Grammar – Hell to the Liars

I have always been fond of powerful female singers and Hannah Reid from London Grammar is definitely no exception. Their album “Truth is a Beautiful Thing” has such a close connection to me and, although over 5 years old, is still one of my most listened to to date. I guess this has to be my favourite track just solely because of the emotions behind it. The basic melody on the piano just makes this song nothing but sheer beauty in my eyes.

Sigur Rós : Svefn-g-Englar

I had never heard of this Icelandic post rock band until my parents went through their gothic stage. Shortly before their unfortunate passing, they used to play their album called “Ágætis byrjun” every Sunday afternoon as a wind down soundtrack and this track instantly stood out for me. Although the lyrics are not in English, you can feel the emotion behind them which is emphasised by their effective use of a reverbed guitar feedback.

Etherwood – Three Eagles

Etherwood has to be by far my favourite Drum & Bass producer because I can relate to him in so many ways. He tends to always find a way to transfer emotions to music whether they be happiness, loss and anguish. I don’t think I can name one song that he has made that I dislike and this for me is a massive thing. I seem to lose myself in his music and try and over analyse each intricate detail from the soft piano chords right down to the shuffles in the hihats. I hesitate at first but decided to send my tracks over to him for feedback and he surprisingly responded approving which to me was a massive confidence boost.

S.P.Y – What The Future Holds (feat. Ian Shaw)

Another influence who shares the same sub genre would have to be Brazillian Producer S.P.Y who manages to incorporate movie style scores into his productions which creates the main focus. The strings that he uses in this track are mesmerising and surreal. Ian Shaw does an excellent job on the lyrics too and these combined with the melodies makes this a definite repeat song on my playlists.

Check out Blean's recent BBC Mix Below: