Made in collaboration with Jared Mattson (The Mattson 2), the Unknown Mortal Orchestra frontman is putting on his Durutti Column inspired hat for a full collection of drifting melodies. In contradiction to it's title, the duo's flow is loose, playful and gentle, similar to Nielson's SB series which have become fan favourites from the UMO canon. Recorded and mixed quickly during a focused session in Palm Springs this is the amuse-bouche we were all looking for. - Flying Out
FEAR - the joint album from Jared Mattson of The Mattson 2 and Ruban Nielson of Unknown Mortal Orchestra - was recorded in June of 2024. All recording and mixing took place in Palm Springs. Mastered by Matt Coltonat Metropolis Studios in London.
I woke up around noon, disoriented, half-dreaming. Music was playing — unfamiliar, fully formed, the kind of sound you assume belongs to someone else’s life. For a moment I thought I was still asleep, hearing music I wished I’d made. Then it hit me: Ruban Nielson was already awake, in the studio, listening to what we’d made. We both knew it. There was something inevitable about the music — like it hadn’t been created so much as uncovered. We listened on repeat, laughing, shaking our heads. One track brought up a shared image: an evergreen forest by a lake at sunset. Ruban suddenly looked up, eyes wide, like he’d just been handed a message. “I’ve got the title,” he said. American Eagle. The name landed the same way the music had — clean, obvious, impossible to argue with. The American Dream: hot dogs, Cokes, sunset drives. We both lost it, tears in our eyes from laughing hard for minutes straight. We swam in his pool. The conversation never stopped. The flow stayed constant, nourishing, effortless. Then Ruban said it again — the line that had already become a principle: “Let’s make more that sound exactly like this.” So we did. Two days later, 'FEAR' was finished. - Jared Mattson
Tracklist
- HIGH T
- RIVER RAFTING
- TESTAROSSA
-
AMERICAN EAGLE
- WEDGIE
- TOUCHDOWN
- RAZOR BLADE