How do you eclipse a self-released debut album that topped the charts, sent your live show
around the world, and brought in a rapidly growing global fanbase? If you’re Melbourne-born
artist SWIM, the answer can only ever be bunker down and push yourself even further. Dear
Friend is SWIM’s second LP in as many years, and builds upon the expansive sonic universe
he’s been intentionally crafting since breaking out in 2020. It’s a cinematic album to immerse
yourself in, perfectly calibrated from start to finish. Or as SWIM puts it: “I had a clear idea of
what I wanted to make, and I'm trying not to do it for anyone else other than myself.
”
Deep in the recesses of Reddit is a burgeoning thread of dance music obsessives who wonder
precisely where SWIM came from - and why he is suddenly showing up everywhere. SWIM
finds the notion of his being an overnight success highly amusing.
‘I mean, I’ve been doing this
non-stop for five years,
’ he says, having released over 50 tracks, including multiple EPs and a
full-length during this period.
“It’s been slowly building, to the point where shows have doubled
in size each time I play.
”
Though SWIM started out playing intimate rooms in his hometown, these days he’s more likely
to be seen selling out multiple nights at Melbourne’s iconic Forum Theatre or the venerable
Koko in London, where he’s now based. That’s before you get to Boiler Rooms and major
European festival appearances, not to mention topping the ARIA Dance and Vinyl Charts with
his 2024 LP In Circles. What’s more, he’s done it all completely independently, sending music
straight into the main veins of his listeners.
‘I love the immediacy of it,
’ he says.
‘When a track’s
done, I just want to get it to the fans straight away.
’
Fostering that direct connection is part of SWIM’s unique appeal. It’s born partly from SWIM’s
frustration with the industry, having been trapped in a label deal that he felt stifled his creativity
when he was still a teenager. Once he emerged from the other side, SWIM decided only to trust
what he describes as his ‘musical compass’
, or “not compromising for anyone and making
decisions solely based on what I liked and was connected with.
” That authenticity has proven
itself over and over again, leading SWIM to larger rooms and higher accolades and now to Dear
Friend, perhaps the most crystallised expression of what he likes to call ‘emotional dance
music.
’
Conjured from the depths of London winter and a period of creative stagnation, Dear Friend is
one of those rare records designed for nightclub abandon and self-reflection in equal measure.
Mixing propulsivity with a cinematic vision, it joins a lineage of seminal Australian electronic
releases, which treat the album as something to be singularly held and experienced as a whole.
SWIM describes going so granular that each song would be pitched or reworked to flow into the
next “so the transitions would work perfectly, which is a little bit crazy. But it does feel like an
intentional body of work, because it was made that way.
”
Dear Friend is a sonic journey that tracks universal feelings of togetherness and absence,
amplified by SWIM pining for his home country.
“There’s this duality of discovering a new placeand longing for the old one, or even missing a particular person,
” he explains. That strain of
melancholy is present on songs like ‘Missing You’
, haunted by ethereal vocals and skittering
drums through to the euphoric abandon of the album’s title track. It’s an expansive suite that
never loses its soul, whether it’s subsonic bass and garage snares of ‘Be There For You’ or the
blissful harmonic unfurling of ‘Everything You Need’
, all of which helps explain why SWIM has
made the phrase ‘crying in the club’ his own, a wink at the heightened fervor present in his live
shows and recorded output alike.
It should come as little surprise that SWIM is relentlessly detail-oriented when it comes to
making music. That’s not just in the crafting of songs themselves, but in the sequencing,
tracking, production and ‘world building’ of his work, from artwork to live production and even
bringing ballerinas onstage. It also extends to the art of composition; SWIM being an entirely
self-taught musician who views every new challenge as a potential further horizon.
“I just have
to try everything,
” he laughs. For proof, just listen to the crescendoing strings on songs like
‘Memories’ and bombastic opener ‘You & Me’
, which SWIM arranged himself as part of a
long-held vision to record with the Budapest Film Orchestra and bring the music to life. Scoring
his music with strings is something that had always been on SWIM’s creative wishlist, and with
the sweeping sounds on Dear Friend, he finally found the perfect outlet.
“There’s nothing more
cinematic or epic than working with strings. I've always loved records that have brought those
elements in. So with the scope of this record and songs like Memories in particular, it felt like it
was the right time to do it.
”
One could reasonably suggest that SWIM doesn’t make things easy for himself, but he would
counter that’s what keeps him so prolific.
“I feel like if I stop learning and stop doing things that
are outside of my comfort zone, it's not going to be exciting for me anymore.
” In setting out to
create something for himself, he’s crafted a record that captures that pursuit; ambitious,
emotional and undoubtedly SWIM.
-large.jpg)
How do you eclipse a self-released debut album that topped the charts, sent your live show
around the world, and brought in a rapidly growing global fanbase? If you’re Melbourne-born
artist SWIM, the answer can only ever be bunker down and push yourself even further. Dear
Friend is SWIM’s second LP in as many years, and builds upon the expansive sonic universe
he’s been intentionally crafting since breaking out in 2020. It’s a cinematic album to immerse
yourself in, perfectly calibrated from start to finish. Or as SWIM puts it: “I had a clear idea of
what I wanted to make, and I'm trying not to do it for anyone else other than myself.
”
Deep in the recesses of Reddit is a burgeoning thread of dance music obsessives who wonder
precisely where SWIM came from - and why he is suddenly showing up everywhere. SWIM
finds the notion of his being an overnight success highly amusing.
‘I mean, I’ve been doing this
non-stop for five years,
’ he says, having released over 50 tracks, including multiple EPs and a
full-length during this period.
“It’s been slowly building, to the point where shows have doubled
in size each time I play.
”
Though SWIM started out playing intimate rooms in his hometown, these days he’s more likely
to be seen selling out multiple nights at Melbourne’s iconic Forum Theatre or the venerable
Koko in London, where he’s now based. That’s before you get to Boiler Rooms and major
European festival appearances, not to mention topping the ARIA Dance and Vinyl Charts with
his 2024 LP In Circles. What’s more, he’s done it all completely independently, sending music
straight into the main veins of his listeners.
‘I love the immediacy of it,
’ he says.
‘When a track’s
done, I just want to get it to the fans straight away.
’
Fostering that direct connection is part of SWIM’s unique appeal. It’s born partly from SWIM’s
frustration with the industry, having been trapped in a label deal that he felt stifled his creativity
when he was still a teenager. Once he emerged from the other side, SWIM decided only to trust
what he describes as his ‘musical compass’
, or “not compromising for anyone and making
decisions solely based on what I liked and was connected with.
” That authenticity has proven
itself over and over again, leading SWIM to larger rooms and higher accolades and now to Dear
Friend, perhaps the most crystallised expression of what he likes to call ‘emotional dance
music.
’
Conjured from the depths of London winter and a period of creative stagnation, Dear Friend is
one of those rare records designed for nightclub abandon and self-reflection in equal measure.
Mixing propulsivity with a cinematic vision, it joins a lineage of seminal Australian electronic
releases, which treat the album as something to be singularly held and experienced as a whole.
SWIM describes going so granular that each song would be pitched or reworked to flow into the
next “so the transitions would work perfectly, which is a little bit crazy. But it does feel like an
intentional body of work, because it was made that way.
”
Dear Friend is a sonic journey that tracks universal feelings of togetherness and absence,
amplified by SWIM pining for his home country.
“There’s this duality of discovering a new placeand longing for the old one, or even missing a particular person,
” he explains. That strain of
melancholy is present on songs like ‘Missing You’
, haunted by ethereal vocals and skittering
drums through to the euphoric abandon of the album’s title track. It’s an expansive suite that
never loses its soul, whether it’s subsonic bass and garage snares of ‘Be There For You’ or the
blissful harmonic unfurling of ‘Everything You Need’
, all of which helps explain why SWIM has
made the phrase ‘crying in the club’ his own, a wink at the heightened fervor present in his live
shows and recorded output alike.
It should come as little surprise that SWIM is relentlessly detail-oriented when it comes to
making music. That’s not just in the crafting of songs themselves, but in the sequencing,
tracking, production and ‘world building’ of his work, from artwork to live production and even
bringing ballerinas onstage. It also extends to the art of composition; SWIM being an entirely
self-taught musician who views every new challenge as a potential further horizon.
“I just have
to try everything,
” he laughs. For proof, just listen to the crescendoing strings on songs like
‘Memories’ and bombastic opener ‘You & Me’
, which SWIM arranged himself as part of a
long-held vision to record with the Budapest Film Orchestra and bring the music to life. Scoring
his music with strings is something that had always been on SWIM’s creative wishlist, and with
the sweeping sounds on Dear Friend, he finally found the perfect outlet.
“There’s nothing more
cinematic or epic than working with strings. I've always loved records that have brought those
elements in. So with the scope of this record and songs like Memories in particular, it felt like it
was the right time to do it.
”
One could reasonably suggest that SWIM doesn’t make things easy for himself, but he would
counter that’s what keeps him so prolific.
“I feel like if I stop learning and stop doing things that
are outside of my comfort zone, it's not going to be exciting for me anymore.
” In setting out to
create something for himself, he’s crafted a record that captures that pursuit; ambitious,
emotional and undoubtedly SWIM.
