Thievery Corporation co-founder Eric Hilton presents ‘Beautiful Moment (feat. The Infinite Daisy Chains)’ and ‘L’Ocean (feat. Natalia Clavier)’, the second pair of singles taken from his forthcoming album, ‘Midnight Ragas.’ (out June 20th).
‘Beautiful Moment (feat. The Infinite Daisy Chains)’ is unquestionably the most romantic track on the album. Vocals by Kristina Westernik-Dandridge summon thoughts of the late summer evening sun, slow kisses and dew drops on agave leaves. It’s as perfect a sonic representation of apres-release afterglow that you’re likely to hear. ‘L’Ocean – stays true to Eric’s 90’s trip hop wavelength; this is a standout for Hilton, as good as any track of the era/genre.
With Midnight Ragas, Eric Hilton has made a great compilation album. Except not really. We’ll explain.
Midnight Ragas is a new album by the downtempo electronic music producer Eric Hilton, with vocal contributions by longtime collaborators Natalia Clavier and Puma Ptah, along with newer recruit Kristina Westernik-Dandridge. And while the tracks are all new Eric Hilton recordings, the album sounds like a killer compilation record, with shifting tempos, moods, vocalists, and languages across twelve tracks. The vintage age of mix CDs may be long over, but listen to Midnight Ragas and you’ll think it never left.
Eric Hilton has plenty of experience with compilation albums. Tracks by Thievery Corporation, the downtempo combo Hilton co-founded in 1995, have been featured on over 600 mix CDs, according to music database website Discogs. “I loved compilations back in the day. You bought them to get turned on to new sounds, or you liked the artist compiling it. Midnight Ragas was not conceptualized as a compilation – the album is a moment of eclecticism,” says Hilton. I changed studios and got to work, invited friends to participate, just making music together. This album is a result of the first 6 months of recording – and because the process was so collaborative, it ended up being a mix of styles. I loved working like that this time,” says the producer, who usually produces music as a solo endeavor.
With three different vocalists and lyrics sung in French, Spanish and English, Midnight Ragas has the distinct feel of international exotica, a sound that Hilton has cultivated over 30 years of album releases. “Languages are like different settings on a synth, they have a timbre and delivery that either work or they don’t within a song. Working with Natalia, Puma and Kristina was so great on this project, because I had all these vocal flavors to choose from. There are instrumentals on the record alongside the vocal tracks which vary the mood and pacing. To create an experience, you need to have moments in the song sequence that have a relational mood of some kind, maybe for three tracks, and then slip into another mood. Different languages and singers, changing tempos and sounds – there’s a lot of that on this record, and that’s why it sounds like a compilation album, even though it’s entirely my music,” says Hilton.
When is Eric Hilton ‘s Midnight Ragas album released?
Midnight Ragas will be released on the 20th of June 2025 via Montserrat House and is available to pre-order here
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