Paul Oakenfold
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Speaking on the phone with Billboard Dance this week, DJ/producer Paul Oakenfold explains his approach in the studio.
“The process usually starts with an instrumental that I’ll play out to make sure it works in terms of arrangement and sound,” he notes. “Then I’ll go in with a writer/singer and work on the top line. [That way] you already have something that’s tried and tested; you know it works.”
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“My last two artist albums have been based around great singers and wonderful songs with cutting edge rhythm,” he says. “Over the years we’ve seen the change where electronic music is now mainstream. This album, which is nothing different to what I’ve previously done, will now be perceived as much more of a pop record. But I haven’t really taken that approach – I’ve just worked on what I’ve always believed in, which is great songs and great singers.”
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The producer is gearing up to release his next full-length, PopKiller, which is due out later this year, and he shared the first offering from the record today. “U Are” is a collaboration with the producer/multi-instrumentalist duo BRKLYN and the singer/songwriter Amba Shepherd. Oakenfold describes the track as “a set-up record for my first single from my album.” The core of the song is a light vocal from Shepherd, whom Oakenfold praises for her “great vocal tone;” during a separate phone call, BRKLYN’s Cameron Trowbridge also applauds Shepherd’s “choice of melodies.”
According to BRKLYN, Oakenfold originally asked the duo to construct an acoustic version of the track.
“Sometimes you have to really work for something,” Trowbridge says. “But I think you know it’s something special when it just comes naturally. Some songs take a couple days, some songs take a week; that song literally took a couple hours.” After the pair added their instrumental details, the singer/songwriter shell of “U Are” appealed to Oakenfold, and the acoustic version became the main track.
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Oakenfold hits EDC Las Vegas later this month, where he’s promising to play plenty of new material; BRKLYN also embarked on a Vegas residency recently, playing twice a month at Hakkasan. Listen to “U Are” below.