With a total of over 65 million Spotify streams, Belgian producer and DJ Poldoore’s music has always appealed to a broad demographic around the world.
Through the meticulous use of his home studio full of analog curiosities while also relying on sampling and chopping up live instrument recordings, Poldoore has over the years developed a unique sound that seamlessly bridges numerous musical styles and eras, and draws the listener into a constantly moving auditive soundscape.
His debut album Street Bangerz Vol. 6: Playhouse was picked up by Los Angeles-based downtempo label Cold Busted in 2012 (featuring hit single But I Do which has to date gathered over 20 million streams on Spotify) and quickly won him fans across the globe. Only a few weeks after its release, the hiphop-driven record that recalls boom bap legends like DJ Premier, 9th Wonder and Pete Rock was already topping the Beatport charts with a #1 album position in both the Funk/R&B and Reggae/Dub sections.
After the 2014 release of his sophomore album, The Day Off, Poldoore scaled up his ambitions. Acclaimed by the likes of Noisey (music by VICE), Majestic Casual and Creation 5 by Bang&Olufsen Poldoore started clocking up fans and commenced his first live tour, playing major festivals across Europe such as Dour Festival, Tomorrowland and Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Festival.
Later that year his work was rewarded with a nomination in the Album Of The Year, Artist Of The Year and Breakthrough Artist Of The Year categories at the Red Bull Elektropedia Awards. His jazzy take on the Fugees’ classic track Fu-Gee-La eventually won the #2 spot in the Remix Of The Year section and was shortly after voted as the #8 Best Belgian Remix Ever.
As someone who has always been wary of the hyperconnectivity and demand for extraversion which defines the contemporary music world, Poldoore spent most of his days fine-tuning his production skills in his homebase Leuven after the release of his The Day After LP in 2016, but he quickly outgrew his “bedroom producer” moniker as he began to establish himself as a skilled artist. This led him to not only do remix work for household names such as Emancipator, Wax Tailor, Talib Kweli, Selah Sue and Hermitude, but also attracted the attention of Sony who commissioned him to compose the soundtrack for the worldwide ad campaign of their Sony Xperia smartphone.
2019 brought forth Mosaic, a showcase of his ever evolving craftsmanship, dialling up the intricate and emotive qualities of his production style that led Rolling Stone magazine to praise “Poldoore’s ability to marry different era’s and genres into a smooth, timeless blend” with a four-star review. For this occasion ultra-lyricists ASM (A State Of Mind) and Brooklyn-based rapper Awon (who starred in the acclaimed Netflix documentary Underdogs) brought their rhymes to the table, perfectly complimenting Poldoore’s lush instrumental compositions. A new string of live shows swiftly followed, this time also crossing the Atlantic for his first full-fledged tour throughout North America and Canada.
His upcoming LP Soft Focus is filled with the sound of various synthesizers and old machines gurgling and having fun with the carefully selected sample chops and instrumental takes, but with a constant longing melancholy building in the background. It’s the sound of the many sides of Poldoore finally fusing together: the passionate crate digger, the analog enthousiast and the considered composer.
