They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. And, if this is the case, the likes of Tyler, The Creator, Tame Impala and Rema should consider themselves flattered because rapidly-rising artist Unusual Demont looked to some of their most famed works for inspiration when crafting his debut EP, “HUES.”. Head below to enjoy the artist’s explanation as to the meaning behind his newest indie-meets-R&B cuts and the tracks that inspired them…

The harmonies on that song are so crazy, and it is one of my favourite chord progressions. So when I realised the instrumental for “Vanta” had a similar progression I really wanted to lay down those kinds of minor harmonies.

The outro to this song was me trying to recreate my favourite part of “Eartfquake”, but the opposite, which is why a lead comes in near the end and the 808 note goes up. That part just always gives me chills.

I love afrobeat, but I almost scrapped “Gold”. I was opposed to doing a track like that for so long because it felt the same as when Drake did “One Dance” if that makes sense? But, the melody I layered on “Gold” just felt so right, so I kept it.

The hook of “Amber” was literally written for Kevin Parker. I was listening to so much Tame Impala during the time when I was making it, and I just wanted to do that high pitched voice so bad on a song.

“Pine” was hard for me to find an influence because I don’t listen to too much R&B, but it really was just me drawing on what I grew up on personally, which was a lot of MJ. And, “Butterflies” was always one of my favourites.

I wanted to try and do a lot of different tones on this project, and Prince’s voice is so versatile. The beat itself already felt like one of his, so I just did what felt right. Especially the screaming at the end.

More than anything, “Daffodil” was just me imagining summertime angst. Back in school, usually, relationships that were really strong during the colder months ended because people just wanted to go out, party and have fun during summer without the stress of keeping a partner happy. Though it’s kind of the opposite from the lyrics, meaning the end of “Ninety (Electric)” just always sounded like summer to me.

The way Rei had her vocals in such a breathy falsetto with that lower octave harmony on this song always sounded so nice to me, the rest of the song was just me wanting to make stuff sound pretty, but that opening hook was me emulating her vocals.