Massive UK dance duo Bicep have announced the launch of a new project called CHROMA, which they've previewed today with the aptly titled elastic, tinny single "CHROMA 001 HELIUM."
The pair of Andy Ferguson and Matt McBriar's new venture combines a record label, a series of curated events and a Bicep AV/DJ show, as well as a unique visual identity created in collaboration with David Rudnick and his Terrain studio.
Devised as a home for their more underground productions and to showcase their wider musical styles, releases on the CHROMA label will all feature Ferguson and McBriar in some capacity.
“We’ve increasingly wanted to show a more rounded picture of what we do in the studio,” they explained in a press release. “We do a lot of more heavy techno-focused music, ambient and various other styles that don't really fit into the 'Bicep' sound, and which often never sees the light of day.”
They continued, “We want to use CHROMA to push our sounds and challenge people more than we probably have in the past. The label is designed to evolve and draw on inspiration constantly, both musically and aesthetically. We’re wanting to essentially create a world that’s an up-to-date representation of us both personally in terms of our evolving tastes.”
As the label's first release, "CHROMA 001 HELIUM" was written specifically for the Ally Pally shows the duo played at the end of 2022. "The show felt a little too sweet in certain sections and we wanted to add some more grit into the show," they said. The resultant track is, in their words, "a bit darker and more club-focused than most of our music we have released over the past few years. Although it’s actually a pretty fair representation of what we’re listening to and playing in our DJ sets."
Listen to "CHROMA 001 HELIUM below.