Premiere: Trevino ‘Moodswing’

The final album from the late Marcus Intalex under his Trevino alias, titled ‘Back’, will be released this month. Listen to ‘Mood Swing’ below. 

The posthumous album from the producer, aka Marcus Kaye, who sadly died in 2017, marks the final chapter of his house and techno moniker, and follows his debut full-length as Trevino, ‘Front’, from 2016. 

Though best known for his impeccable drum & bass productions and DJ sets, including 2007’s ‘FabricLive.35’, the Manchester-based artist originated as a house DJ in the early ‘90s. His first track as Trevino, ‘Tactical Manoeuvre’, was released via Martyn’s 3024 label in 2011. The Trevino alias was inspired by Kaye’s favourite golfer, Lee Trevino, and ‘Front’ and ‘Back’ (both nine-track albums) are loosely based on the ‘Front’ nine and ‘Back’ nine holes in the sport. This theme is also reflected in the artwork, which is based on the plans for Hillside golf course in Southport. 

Most of the nine tracks on ‘Back’ were written during a period of time that Kaye spent in the techno hub of Berlin, and were later finished in his home studio in Manchester. Inspired by the pioneering sounds of Detroit and Chicago, which he fell in love with while working in record stores as a young man, ‘Back’ is charged with classic machine funk. Looping melodic minimalism, slamming cymbals, stomping kicks and distorted zaps of bass and FX push things constantly forward, while the smoky atmospheres and emotive synth passages that permeate so much of Kaye’s catalogue keep things rooted and unquestionably his. It’s a striking collection from an artist at the peak of his powers, who left us far too soon. 

‘Back’ will be released on 26th May via Birdie, two days before the sixth anniversary of Kaye’s death. You can pre-order it here.

Read Martin Guttridge-Hewitt's 2019 feature on the Marcus Intalex Foundation.