New double single from santpoort “the iron sky” & “graveyard of dreams”

With santpoort's LP out next month (Maybe Not Tomorrow, May 24), the multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter offers up a split single to hold us over. The two tracks compliment each other nicely, further building out the world of santpoort as he preps for album mode.

The first track, "the iron sky", begins as a lush and beaming instrumental, soaring through the clouds without a care in the world. It's lovely, it's optimistic, lively, pensive. Comforting, even. But the lyrics and the message that arrive near the end paint a darker portrait.

"Highly environmentalist in nature," santpoort explains, "this song is about us scorching the skies. It sounds drastic, but if we proceed to inject our skies with satellites we'll make a prison and never be able to (if and when we screw it up) leave this planet."

The message is sharp and the song is as well. This is one to throw on during a difficult video game level. It might be soundtracking a relaxing submarine, or somewhere out in space, soaring through the stars, getting away from it all because we've ruined what once was. Like waking up from a glimpse of the future, consider this an organic field recording beaming as a hologram in a glass spaceship. A transparent garden one must water right now.

The second track, "graveyard of dreams" is full of that playful percussion that santpoort does so well. It's a dreamy piece of extended grief, and how departed family members might visit us late at night, deep in sleep. Laying in bed, calming falling leaves, listening to the rain when you just can't sleep.

"I had a dream," santpoort explains, "about my grandfather the night before I wrote this piece. He passed away years ago. In this dream, we swapped our bodies. I knew that he would pass the next day so I only had one day left to live, with absolute certainty. Instead of full blown panic, this created a calm that I have never felt before."

Together, these split singles are electronic and approachable. Fuzzy and warm. Accessible yet experimental. Glitched out and strange. Exactly what we've come to expect (i.e. something unexpected) from santpoort.