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For Dutch artist Stefan Vincent, the feeling of melancholy also offers the opportunity to find beauty. “Decay and loneliness can have a purpose. Depression can teach you things. Feeling deep sadness also means the ability to feel deep emotions,” he says. With this in mind, his debut album on MUSAR Recordings, “Post-Melancholy,” unravels the twists and turns of dealing with this emotion, drawing on breaks, electro, and IDM to make his most intricate work to date, following previous releases on Token, Dynamic Reflection, Symbolism, and Non-Series.
Throughout “Post-Melancholy,” Vincent traces the wave of melancholy and how it moves through the body, allowing for lighter moments alongside darker moods. Now we had the pleasure of interviewing Stefan and this was the result.
Stefan, your album Post-Melancholy explores the depth of melancholy through a mix of electronic genres. What inspired you to focus on this theme for your debut release?
The melancholy theme came naturally. The album is a compilation of music I made over the years and wasn't composed intentionally as an album. while compiling the album I came up with the name as I realized melancholy was the thing I felt almost all of the tracks had in common with each other.
In what ways do you think melancholy can be a source of beauty and profound emotion, and how does this perspective influence the sound and composition of the album?
I never really listened to music you could perceive as 'happy', I've always felt more connected with music that explored darker emotions. Making music is a very therapeutic thing for me and it's no secret that throughout the years I've incorporated many personal themes into it. This album is no different. The idea is to kind of turn the emotions of loss or grief into something slightly more positive, you could say with this album I'm asking myself the question what comes after the melancholy.
The album features a blend of breaks, electro, and IDM. How did you go about selecting these specific styles, and how do they help convey the emotional journey of the album?
Genres weren't really my focal point. I've been trying new things throughout the years, and only after a while when I felt able to take a step back and listen to all tracks with a less subjective perspective it felt like it was a good fit.
“Eyes Unclouded” is noted for its soaring acid lines and dazzling synths. Can you discuss the significance of this track as the album opener and how it sets the stage for the rest of the record?
I guess the opener would be one of the few - if not the only - more positive, upbeat tracks on the album. In that sense, the opener might give you a bit of a misguided indication of what's about to come, as the rest of the album is not exactly like that. It does have a sort of hopeful feel to it which I like.
The album transitions between darker and lighter moments. How did you balance these contrasting moods throughout Post-Melancholy to maintain a cohesive narrative?
It wasn't very hard to balance them actually, it came quite naturally. Perhaps that's one of the reasons the choice was easy to release all tracks together as an album rather than as individual EP's.
With tracks like “Another Skin To Wear” and “You Know This Isn’t Going To End Well,” you incorporate IDM and drum’n’bass. How do these elements enhance the album’s exploration of melancholy?
Both of these tracks represent a slightly darker mood as their titles might suggest. the idm/dnb element isn't an absolute necessity as being a vessel to convey these emotions, it could've been any genre to be honest.
The track “8AM on the Train… (For Maarten)” is a tribute to your friend Maarten de Vries. Can you share more about how his memory influenced the creation of this track and its role in the album?
Before I signed the album to MUSAR I had a plan to start a label with Maarten. I showed him my unreleased tracks and he loved them all and was determined to release them together with me. Unfortunately, he passed away before we could execute this plan. This track was his favourite, the name of the track is the last conversation I had with him.
What were some of the most rewarding and challenging aspects of working on Post-Melancholy? How did these experiences shape the final product?
It's my debut album which is quite challenging to begin with. I think the same goes for all artists, when you release your first album there's the almost obsessive pursuit of perfection before it sees the light of day. Before the choice was made to compile all tracks and release it as an album I always thought that an album was something that you write with the specific intention of becoming an album. Since I've finished (almost) all tracks quite some time ago already I found the capacity to distance myself a bit more from it and see and accept it as a whole. It's quite rewarding that even though I've experimented with different sounds for this project, to me I can still hear myself in all of it and it makes total sense to release them together.
What emotions or thoughts do you hope listeners will experience when engaging with Post-Melancholy, and what message do you hope to convey through your music?
I don't know who said this about music first, but it really resonated with me; once the music is created and released, it becomes part of the rest of the world, it's not mine anymore. In that sense, it's not up to me to decide what people should feel. If someone would feel any emotion at all, the goal would be achieved already.
As you look to the future, what new artistic directions are you interested in exploring, and how do you see your music evolving beyond Post-Melancholy?
I'm currently very productive, probably my most productive year ever since I started making music. I did some 4/4 techno but my main focus will be diving deeper into things that I haven't done before.
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