Harmonie Fields is the Berlin-based duo project of Argentinian multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer Andrés Barlesi and singer-songwriter Richie Setford from New Zealand.
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Andres Barlesi and Richie Setford (from Argentina and New Zealand respectively) met in Berlin in 2015. Two musicians carving out a living as best they could in a foreign city, hungry for collaboration and eager to find a community within the local music scene. Over the next few years they shared concert stages and played on sessions together, but it wasn't until 2019 while they worked on a collection of Richie's solo work, that the concept of Harmonie Fields began to take shape.
Andres was engineering those particular sessions and during the downtime he would play some of his archived sketches or demos; Richie has since described hearing these compositions as “like unearthing a collection of precious sound recordings - timeless, unpolished gemstones”. The touchpaper was lit.
It was obvious now that the two friends had found a perfect union for their talents and throughout 2020 they slipped into a collaborative process that is still in place today. Andres will work up composition ideas to a point where he is ready to send something to Richie for lyrics and vocal melodies, a back and forth ensues until both are happy. The beautiful, delicate and dusty sound aesthetic of those initial demos have defined how the duo want to work sonically. They pay homage to vintage records and recording techniques and their music calls to mind artists like Scott Walker and Arthur Russell.
For their debut album, Harmonie Fields have assembled a collection of low-lit, melancholic songs that deal in the human condition. This is emotionally resonant music, overflowing with thoughts on human nature, mythology, free will, mortality and consciousness.
