English musician, record producer, and singer-songwriter Jasper Sommer is set to unveil his EP, Memento, on the 26th of January 2024 via EFG Records Oy. The 7-track project follows the 2023 release of his latest single of the same name and two preceding singles from the EP, ‘We Could Rule The World’ and ‘Do You Love Me Now?’. Jasper has already received mainstream publication support from CLASH Magazine, COMPLEX UK and Earmilk, drawing comparisons to the likes of Four Tet and James Blake. In addition, ‘We Could Rule The World’ has received support from notable tastemaker NOTION Magazine and Numéro Magazine, while ‘Memento’ has received radio play from NPR.
Born in Derbyshire, England, and currently based in Hollola, Finland, his father was a huge lover of all music, exposing Jasper to an array of quality sounds from an early age. After picking up his brother's guitar to play Blink 182 songs, he knew he wanted to pursue a life in music. Forming a band at the age of eleven with two close friends, the boys created their own songs and performed covers of Blink 182. Inspired by Zodiac's production on The Weeknd's first EP, he started playing around with GarageBand, his first foray into music production.
Memento is a genre-bending sonic journey through Jasper’s introspective, glitchy dreamscapes. The EP’s opener, ‘We Could Rule The World’, sets the tone with a distinctly experimental array of trippy ambient passages, dizzying breakdowns and a tender piano outro. The focus track, ‘Haunter’, sees dark, haunting synths and pads married to a gritty trap beat. ‘Memento’, the titular track, is arguably the catchiest of them all, featuring an earworm hook while still retaining Jasper’s signature moody sound. His smokey, languid vocals deliver lyrics exploring an emotional kaleidoscope of alienation, destiny, attachment, loneliness and happiness. Memento is a triumphant testimony of both his production prowess and sincere songwriting.
Jasper shared: “Written, produced, mixed & mastered by myself, the mood of the EP is generally centered around my own struggles of depression and feelings of inadequacy, exploring moods from melancholy and struggle with moments of clarity, epiphanies and triumph. Some songs I started back in 2017, such as the opening and final songs. I never felt comfortable completing them until this year.”
