Paul White made Hella Personal Film Fest with Open Mike Eagle and is a go-to collaborator for Danny Brown. So yeah, the dude has been a hero in my book long before he decided to kick off his influences playlist with a motherfucking hit from [Julia Fox voice] Uncut Gems! For a particular kind of listener (see: me), White has been perennially underrated as both a songwriter and producer (not to mention Charli XCX muse), and with his latest solo album, Peace in Chaos, he reiterates my point to the nth degree.
We get some spooky cinematic epics; some laid back, chillwave-leaning pop jams; funky, noisy experimentations; and straight up sound baths on the new project—we even get some emo-leaning Haunted Mound–type stuff on one song. Peace feels like White took an opportunity to showcase the wide variety of things he can do well, but, remarkably enough, it remains cohesive from front to back. His production instincts lead the charge here, never sacrificing aesthetics in favor of taking huge risks. Every decision is assured, every sound double-checked to make sure it fits perfectly.
To help break down how this record came to be, we had Paul reveal some tracks (including plenty of iconic soundtrack recordings) that helped inspire this sound, which you can check out below.
Daniel Loptain, “The Ballad of Howie Bling”
This song really felt like a character to me—like an actual person with a personality. It really inspired songs like “Humble Beginnings” and “My Lips Silenced.” The whole soundtrack to Uncut Gems really inspired me to write the record as a series of musical pieces that felt like film scenes.
Brian Eno, “Lizard Point”
I had the album Ambient 4: On Land on cassette when I was 16, and it really spoke to me and all the psychedelics I was experimenting with at the time. I feel in love with the worlds that ambient music created. Ambient music was the first electronic music I started writing around that time. I revisited this album around the time of writing Peace in Chaos, and it really took me back to my ambient roots and influenced the record.
Vangelis, “Main Titles [for Blade Runner]”
I’ve collected Vangelis records for years, sampling a lot of them. This time it was nice to go back to them as a different kind of inspiration. I love how expressive he is with the synths and how he creates visual worlds, not just musical songs. I love how much personality and expression he gets out of his synths, mainly due to the aftertouch on whatever synth he was using. I made most of Peace in Chaos on an ASM Hydrasynth, and what I loved about that synth is the aftertouch and how expressive you could be with it. It felt so alive. My track “First Sight” is my Blade Runner song.
Oneohtrix Point Never, “Long Road Home”
This track really inspired me to use some strings (see the first track, “Supernova”)—and also a vocoder (see the last track, “Runway”). Oneohtrix Point Never is Daniel Lopatin, who composed the Uncut Gems soundtrack. He really was my main source of inspiration for the whole record.
Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Willfisch, “Flight to LAPD”
This modern take on the original Blade Runner soundtrack is pretty awesome. The soundscapes and sonics really inspired me to again focus on the record predominately being short film scenes. I loved the percussion in this song—it inspired me to use some in a similar way on my track “Supernova.”
Beam, “Pilot”
I remember hearing this and loving the raw intense emotion in it—it was screaming rage and loving beauty at the same time. I didn't know who Beam was at the time, so I checked out the rest of the album and found out it was a hip-hop record. I loved the fact he chose to start his album with a synth-led, ambient-style piece. It's powerful and emotional and has such a strong atmosphere. It made me feel more confident about fully going into the ambient world, and also including some more beat-led tracks.
Nicolas Godin, “Zaire 73”
Another awesome ambient film score synth track [for Fire of Love], but this time with a dope drum break in it—it's like a hip-hop track to me. Super simple, just an expression, dope sounds. It’s a great mix of ambient atmospheres and a world, also with drums. This track inspired me to add a few more drum beats around the album, like on “Burnt a Picture.” The whole record is awesome!
