- Followup to 2015's Insides. - RIYL: Jacques Greene, Leon Vynehall, DJ Seinfeld, Project Pablo - Features cover art by Salvador Dalí protégé Steven Arnold. - Silver halide (gray + black marble) vinyl limited to 1,500 copies worldwide - Vinyl is housed in a black dust sleeve inserted in to a matte varnish jacket with metallic silver spot color // After a run of critically-acclaimed singles and EPs, British producer Michael Greene, aka Fort Romeau, returns to the full-length format with Beings of Light, the long-awaited follow-up to 2015's Insides and his second LP on Ghostly International. While a prolific DJ who orients many of his productions for the dancefloor, Greene still sees the album as the ultimate statement of intent, "a space to stretch out, to speak in full paragraphs rather than stunted sentences." He has explored several stylistic fragments in recent years (including the summer 2018 anthem "Pablo," hailed a Best New Track by Pitchfork), but when faced with the extended pause to the dance community in 2020, Greene felt compelled to focus on a larger body of work. Embracing a back-to-basics mentality, he amassed over a dozen hours of sounds, asking himself throughout the sessions: "Does the music move you? Is it honest?" He came out the other end with Beings of Light, an expressive collection traversing rainy day ambient, moonlit disco, and dream-like techno in pursuit of the power found within our subconscious. Album opener "Untitled IV" ushers in a sprinting tempo in its exploration of the human voice, a recurring device in the Fort Romeau project. Greene uses it as a compositional layer, disembodied with its context often opaque or reduced to a single phrase. Here the voice is scattered in percussive twitches, colliding with a kick drum to induce a near state of hypnosis as horns sound off in the distance. Propulsive standout "Spotlights'' is Greene's ode to the romanticised New York City that lives in our hearts, nocturnal and carefree. A vocal snippet repeats the title with a breezy poise, reminiscent of classic house cuts. "Ramona'' honors the beloved Robert Johnson club in Offenbach, Germany. Hazy, spacious, and sustained, Greene designed the beat with their system in mind, "also with a strong nod to the more modern lineage of exceptional minimal house music from Frankfurt," he says. Two ambient pieces surround the track, "(In The) Rain" sets the scene and "Porta Coeli" (a Latin phrase which loosely translates to "heaven's gate") soundtracks the comedown. The album's closer, the title track, is an arc constructed with atmospheric textures, euphoric swings of percussion, and a well-placed piano refrain, "Beings of Light" is adaptive; one could imagine it reverberating from a club, scoring the emotional apex of a film, or radiating through the realm of dreams. More

For their second release on the label, DGTL Records asked another one of its festival shows regulars: Fort Romeau. After playing at three different DGTL editions, and an upcoming fourth during ADE, the organization also wanted to propagate his sound with an EP on their imprint. The release consists of two multi-layered compositions, Untitled II and A Familiar Place, and will be available both on vinyl and in digital stores on the 13th of October. Fort Romeau came into the spotlight with releases on Running Back, Live At Robert Johnson and Ghostly International amongst others. The British talent gained recognition with his cultivated ear and apprehension of all genres of music, that brought him to add something unique to the widespread spectrum of electronic music, both as a DJ and a producer. In 2015 he also set up his own label, Cin Cin, releasing split EPs from established names and newcomers alike, with a diverse musical policy that reflects Fort Romeau his open minded and inquisitive approach.
?Untitled II? is a luminous house tune, with a soundscape on top that takes you on a journey, while ?A Familiar Place? adds a little bit of darkness to the EP. This B-side is made up out of raw elements, a high tempo kick and hi- hat create a sturdy flow that makes it hard to sit still. All in all, it advocates the vision of the festival and its label, in every way. More

“Reasons" marks Fort Romeau’s first full solo release since 2016’s “Secrets & Lies” on Live At Robert Johnson, having previously released records with Ghostly International, Running Back and his own Cin Cin imprint. The title track sees the development of the producer’s interest in playing with the human voice, developing a harmonic and rhythmic hook which builds to a crescendo of wailing synths. “C.E.M” is a focused dance floor workout built around syncopated sequences which ebb and flow creating a constantly evolving pattern of tension and release. On the final track “Satellite 2” a pair of beautiful duelling sequences unfurl giving a sense of weightlessness and provide the perfect epilogue to a record that marks the continuing evolution of the producer’s unique sound. More

Spectral Sound has assembled four distinctive but complementary producers to flesh out Fort Romeau's remix 12", Frankfurt Versions. Dial Records vet Roman Flügel builds on vaporous atmosphere and snappy movements for his densely layered version of "Insides". Tackling "Lately" and "All I Want", Robert Johnson regulars Orson Wells and Massimiliano Pagliara display their love for bassline-driven dance music. And the Tuff City Kids outfit (a.k.a. Gerd Janson and Phillip Lauer) delivers two interpretations of Insides closer "Cloche". Frankfurt Versions doesn't just wrangle together Fort Romeau's cohorts and contemporaries, it illustrates their vitality in spades. More

A warm and affectionate take on the sound of Chicago house, mixing thick analog pad sounds with a 4/4 kick. More

“Reasons" marks Fort Romeau’s first full solo release since 2016’s “Secrets & Lies” on Live At Robert Johnson, having previously released records with Ghostly International, Running Back and his own Cin Cin imprint. The title track sees the development of the producer’s interest in playing with the human voice, developing a harmonic and rhythmic hook which builds to a crescendo of wailing synths. “C.E.M” is a focused dance floor workout built around syncopated sequences which ebb and flow creating a constantly evolving pattern of tension and release. On the final track “Satellite 2” a pair of beautiful duelling sequences unfurl giving a sense of weightlessness and provide the perfect epilogue to a record that marks the continuing evolution of the producer’s unique sound. More