Dutch producer Martyn Deykers already boasts releases on groundbreaking electronic music labels like Brainfeeder, Otsgut Ton, and his own 3024.
But signing to the legendary Ninja Tune label puts him in the company of some truly seminal acts, especially of the boundary-pushing and genre-defying variety -- think Coldcut, Amon Tobin, and Bonobo.
Being brought into the Ninja fold is a testament to the caliber of Martyn's visionary output, which veers effortlessly from cutting-edge techno and future bass to haunting ambient electronica flavors.
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As it often goes with stylistic trailblazers of this sort, Martyn's entry point into electronic music was through its darker experimental fringes rather than the mainstream club scene.
"Coming from a more indie-based musical background, the first electronic music I really got into was electronic body music from the likes of Nitzer Ebb and Front 242 -- I guess what you would now call industrial," he tells Crossfade. "A friend asked me one day to join him and go clubbing. And in the club, I heard Detroit techno for the first time. I guess I was hooked after that.
"I did listen to a lot of Ninja's releases back in the day," he adds. "Especially stuff like Coldcut and DJ Food."
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Martyn's The Air Between Words LP, which drops on Ninja Tune on June 16, is the prolific producer's fourth album in five years. And in a way, it also marks his return to early form. The album's concept: Very simply "to enjoy writing music again," he explains.
"A few years ago, I just didn't enjoy being in the studio anymore and it was hard for me to write music. But I basically changed my setup drastically, got my lo-fi gear out and just had fun with little musical ideas again. All those live takes from the sessions eventually turned into a small collection of simple songs, which were the basis for the album.
"It's definitely a leap forward for me in terms of production and how emotional the songs are," he says. "But at the same time, it fits in with the other three LPs, especially my first one, Great Lengths, in a sonic kind of way."
One track off the LP that should undoubtedly stand out for the heads is "Glassbeadgames," a collaboration with celebrated sonic iconoclast Four Tet.
"I knew Four Tet from seeing him on the road, doing gigs and festivals and the like," Martyn explains. "So we talked about doing a collaboration at one point or another. I think we complement each other quite well in terms of what we bring to the table as musicians, so to work together on something was a lot of fun and the result came out really good, I think."
Leave it to Safe to hook up a Miami debut performance by Martyn on the cusp of the new album's release, with a chance to preview the new material via the Electric Pickle's pristine sound system.
"I've been wanting to play at Electric Pickle for a long time, so I'm really glad it's finally happening," says Martyn. "I have been playing some of the [new album] tracks out as well as some other upcoming material."
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Martyn. With Diego and William Renuart. Presented by Safe. Saturday June 7. Electric Pickle, 2826 N. Miami Ave., Miami. The show starts at 10 p.m. and tickets cost $15 plus fees via residentadvisor.net. Call 305-456-5613 or visit electricpicklemiami.com.
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