Local Artist: “Expanding Horizons”
Vancouver’s Ian Wyatt drops his exceptional debut album as Local Artist.
Feeling better when you’re feeling bad…
Vancouver’s Local Artist, aka Ian Wyatt, a member of the Mood Hut collective and previously known for his underground party starters Dancer and Touch Tone, has made a name for himself with a series of quality releases on labels such as Prohibito and Rhythm Section International. He’s now back with his debut album, entitled “Expanding Horizons”, on Mood Hut filled with slow burns, ambient RnB and hypnotic funk, influenced by Jon Hassell, Laurie Anderson, Loose Ends and Sade.
With his nine-track debut record, Ian Wyatt takes us further towards the intimate end of the radio dial, recording music as a way of processing the emotions of watching his father and partner battle cancer pre-pandemic. Themes of love, loss and life emerge in a moody brew to help you through. The result is an eclectic album.
According to the label: “In Local Artist’s world, the sun is setting on our old selves. Tonight is a slow ritual of letting go to gradually make room for the new. We’ve been up all night. It’s almost dawn and beyond the horizon, we can trust the light that morning brings.”
Stream the whole thing and watch an experimental clip for the record’s opener “Head Right” made by Jack J and Local Artist below.
The Expanding Horizons” LP is out now via Mood Hut.
Pick up your copy here.
