Munk “Kitchen Call” (Daniel Avery Remix)

Going on 15 years of superbly solid releases, German label Gomma is set to issue its Pop Futuro compilation album. “Stacked” is the first word that comes to mind, as it features the imprint’s most standout cuts from the likes of Metronomy, Moullinex, Hot Chip, Mercury and, of course, label head Munk. It’s a choice collection of off-kilter contributes, and as the title insinuates, it foreshadows the potential progression of pop music through the integration of electronic music influence.

Ahead of the release, Daniel Avery rings in his take on Munk’s “Kitchen Call.” Delicately delightful, he cooks up a coasting tune that harnesses vocoded vocal lines, saccharine analog melodies and bleak chord progressions. Avery offers up a very thoughtful affair for pensive heads, and I’m eating up every bit and piece of it.

Munk shares a few words on the release, which you can catch after you take in Daniel Avery’s rework below.

Available April 17 via Gomma.

Did you discuss or exchange ideas with other producers while creating this track?
Yes, I run two labels, and I travel almost every weekend as a DJ; I meet and talk to producers and DJs all the time. So there is a lot of brainstorming constantly [on] what we like or what we don’t like. On Gomma, we always like to avoid the more obvious ways of producing. In electronic music, there are always a few ways to use sound and production tools, and then most stuff is made the same way—has the same sounds and similar arrangement. Gomma artists often talk about these trends in electronic music and try to evolve them into something different, more interesting… With this song, it was similar: The sound aesthetic is very special, the arrangement, the layers of elements—and that is also because we were talking a lot while producing it.

How do you measure the success of a track?
Having released a lot of music over the past years, I have songs that were extremely successful, with hundred of thousands of plays on digital formats, and others [that had] absolutely no feedback. When I started my career, of course, I was most happy when people bought or played a song. But often, this happened to tracks that I personally didn’t like as much as other stuff I did. Later, I realized I personally find it best if I hear an old track of mine, and after years of not hearing it, I listen to it and I like it a lot and wanna re-listen to it. That happens mostly with songs that were NOT the ones with the most plays, but this is my way of defining if a song of mine was successful: I own love for it after years of not hearing it.

Have you played this one out in any of your sets?
I think it’s more a listening track. I can’t really play it myself. I know other DJs who played it… but for me, it’s more for home listening or early-morning stoner sessions, making love, or drivin’ a cool car.

What’s your favorite sound/synth/effect/etc. used here?
I studied classical piano for 10 years, since I was five years old, and was doing concerts when I was 12, 13 and 14—long before I went into electronic music. So, my first love is the piano, and we have to admit: The problem with electronic music production is the dynamic. There is almost no natural dynamics in electronic music, especially because of the compression problem, but also because most of music doesn’t care. With a piano or a violin, it’s different. You have millions of different possibilities to touch the instrument and create a sound, just with the way you put the finger on the instrument. That makes a big difference, and that’s why playing “normal” instruments will always be a more natural and human way of doing music. That’s why, in the end, I prefer REAL instruments always—even if I collect vintage synths and drum machines myself.

If this song were a color, what color would it be?
Purple.