What So Not Shares on Downtempo Release from Upcoming EP

After a huge month touring around the country, curating festival style lineups, throwing pop-up shows in train carriages and coffee shops, and single-handedly revitalising the dance music scene in Australia, What So Not dropped another single, a downtempo collab with Netherlands-based DJ/producer IMANU and American vocalist MNDR called ‘Slow Motion’.

What So Not also announced the release of his eagerly awaited EP, Motions, to be released on August 16th. 

What So Not, aka Chris Emerson or Emoh to his mates, explains how ‘Slow Motion’ came together:

“I met Jon (IMANU) when he was 17, and over the last five years I’ve watched him grow into one of the most respected musicians in our scene. Despite being known for our maximalist productions, we seem drawn to these hypnotic and psychedelic downtempo records when we get together… and of course the droning and lush crescendo of ‘Slow Motion’ would not be complete with the incredible ‘flow state one take’ of MNDR. I still get goosebumps listening to the iPhone recording of her first listen to the instrumental, whipping out the entire topline in one take.”

MNDR adds, “What So Not (Chris) and I share a love for instinct over genre and creative inspiration over algorithms. This is reflected and ignited in the songs we wrote together.  Both songs arrived in about two hours and after that I had a fever that lasted four days in which I lost my frame of reference.  Clearly the universe knew we were meant to collaborate.”

MNDR is the stage name of Amanda Lucille Warner, an American singer, songwriter, and record producer who specialises in electro-pop. Warner first gained recognition after being featured on Mark Ronson & The Business Intl’s 2010 single ‘Bang Bang Bang’, which reached number six on the UK Singles Chart.

She has also written and produced songs for artists such as Santigold, Kylie Minogue, Rita Ora, Calvin Harris, Charli XCX, AlunaGeorge, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Christian Leave. Warner has also co-written songs for other artists, including ‘Vroom Vroom’ by SOPHIE and Charli XCX, and ‘All Stars’ by Martin Solveig. 

Previously known as highly respected drum & bass producer Signal, Jonathan Immanuel Kievit has already achieved a huge amount at a young age. He’s amassed releases on weapons grade labels such as Critical, Invisible, Renegade Hardware and RAM, and previously remixed the What So Not & Skrillex collab‘GOH’. Building on everything he’s achieved so far, channelling his experiences as a hyper-accelerated new-gen artist, galvanising his passions and reference points far beyond any perceived genre boundaries; IMANU is less of a new framework and more of a whole new system. His roots remain deepest in drum & bass, but it’s how and where he takes those ideas and techniques next.

The release of ‘Slow Motion’ follows on from What So Not’s latest single ‘Lights Go Out’ with Benson and Lucy Lucy blasting into the top 40 of the Shazam chart in Australia, plus What So Not appearing on national television petitioning for a rave at iconic Aussie hardware store Bunnings. Watch this space for more news on the Bunnings rave – dreams really can come true!

Both ‘Lights Go Out’ and ‘Slow Motion’ will appear on What So Not’s upcoming EP Motions which Emerson describes as a “love letter to dance music”.