Premiere: Mantris – Amber

Life often through curveballs, some you’d dodge, some would hit you squarely in the face before you’d even had time to think. But it was how you dealt with them that counted; how you adapted and changed to tackle them head on; how you managed to pick yourself up afterwards and carry on with your day. We’re more resilient than we think.

In the early 90s Belgian producer Mantris was a pioneering force in house music, behind outfits like The Black Sun and Brown Hardware, and releases on cult label Elektron. He had a promising future in front of him but suddenly he vanished, and no more music was every heard from him. That is until now.

30 years later, by chance Brussels-based Kong DJ got his hands on a mysterious playlist from Mumbai that mentioned the above Mantris records. Motivated by what he heard Kong decided to launch his joint label with Hill Men, Souvenirs From Imaginary Cities, which borrows its name from the playlist, finding a home for these timeless sounds that Mantris had continued to produce over the course of the last 20 years. The 10 tracks across the release all have their own atmosphere, telling a fantastical narrative through cinematic sounds, refined house and leftfield experiments.

Buy HERE.