Flower Knight by hmurd

"Like the composers he was probably inspired by, Murdoch wrings complex emotions via catchy melodies with the sparest of sound palettes. This might not be face-melting club music, but it's nearly as impressive." (Resident Advisor)

With acclaimed singles out on All Centre and TT, dozens of DJ and live gigs still resonating from the pre-pandemic era, and tracks frequently praised in shows by the likes of Rian Treanor or Beatrice Dillon, hmurd is one to watch. The rising London-based producer and co-founder of Cherche Encore oscillates from refined club-oriented tracks to beatless, code-leaning compositions, often drawing inspiration from computer games and their environments. Following the narrative of one of his latest self-released EPs 'The Grand Exchange', a collection of reworked themes from the cult MMORPG game RuneScape, he now presents a selection of songs from a soundtrack to a fictional game called 'Flower Knight'.

In this mini-album, hmurd documents glimpses of miscellaneous levels of the title game and its likely tricky challenges. Flower Knight is probably 2D. Well it might be 3D. The world is likely to be hostile to the player. It doesn’t exist so these things don’t need to be certain. Relaxed at times and thrilling the next, the captive nature of the gracefully composed collection underlines the relationship of simplicity and imagination. An immersivity fundamental of the sentiment we often hold of the well-aged titles like RuneScape or ICO, and of the relationships we build with the alternate realities they picture. Those endless runs to drop off your fully-loaded inventory, the sound of your catch cooking above the campfire, another gem obtained, a new level unlocked. One of the joys and satisfactions Flower Knight has to offer may lie in its reoccurrence - revealing itself slowly but steadily. Tone to tone, level to level, XP to XP.

systematic overcoming of longing since 2016

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