Splitscreen is Arthur Valentine’s debut EP, the product of years bouncing ideas around with friends in home studios, augmenting his voice with prismatic autotuned harmonies, fluttering minimal percussion, and airy lead synths. Its DIY origins don’t hold back the results - earning praise from critics, with District Magazine likening it to BROCKHAMPTON’s softer cuts, Frank Ocean’s lyrical confessions, and Clairo’s bedroom minimalism.

It’s pristine pop with modern R&B sensibilities, powered by rather unlikely influences and collaborations. Two moments on the EP show it best: Rainbow Road, the focus track for the project, paints its outro with the unlikely texture of a Memphis rap sample. Final single Track 3 has an infectious beat-switch at the back end of the track that sees a guitar riff seize space over a dark, trap-influenced palette. One of the producers told me there’s a sample of the Korean version of the Cory in the House theme in one of the tracks, which I fully do not believe.

Writing about the project, Arthur Valentine notes the power of these moments, and how the wider aesthetic of the project bloomed from there:

For years I felt like I was living these two contrasting lives: one half of my time was spent writing and recording music, the other half was spent completing a law degree I never really wanted. I was spending an awful lot of time on the road - I would write lyrics on the bus or play demos driving in my car and just sing different melodies over the beats. These themes of duality and transience started to rear their heads in the music. When it came to recording and producing the tracks, Drew, Jack and I wanted to make production and songwriting choices that mirrored these themes - beat switches, changes in time signatures, contrasting elements running alongside each other throughout the tracks.

From here that I came up with the “Splitscreen” concept - using the image of a multiplayer, split-screen racing game to represent these contrasts. I approached Neil O’Sullivan Greene after seeing the 3D environments he was building for Matt’s Ghostking Is Dead artwork. I explained to him what I had in mind for the art direction, and we ended up actually creating a playable racing game to accompany the EP.

Taking its cues from 90s arcade classics like Daytona USA, the Splitscreen game was used to create the EP’s artwork, is available for download to coincide with the EP’s release, and is even being experimented with as an interactive backdrop for live shows. We’re hoping to work it into plans for merch and physical releases. As we get it finished, we’ll be sure to update this page with more details.

And speaking of live shows, two huge events are in the works for late 2021 - one being a debut headliner upstairs at Whelan’s in Dublin, promoted by MCD; scheduled for December, to be announced June 23^rd and to go on sale on the 25^th. The second is a hometown showcase gig for the DIY collective Hausu on November 2^nd in Cork’s Cyprus Avenue, also featuring Neil O’Sullivan-Greene, Automatic Blue, Actualacid and Ghostking is Dead - all of whom collaborated on Splitscreen.

Preceding singles CHOKER and Dream About You landed with an impact; Arthur Valentine’s music has already received frequent praise from Irish tastemakers Nialler9 and District Magazine, newspapers like The Irish Times and even scored a much-coveted Track of the Week from Ireland’s leading youth radio station RTÉ 2FM. One week before the EP, we released the opening track, Track 3.

I wrote most of the EP on the 4 bus route home while living in Dublin, singing the lyrics and melodies into my phone while disturbed commuters gave me funny looks. I ended up moving back to Cork a few weeks later, moving into the gaff with Jack and Drew just before pandemic hit. The rest of the EP was written and recorded in the first few weeks of lockdown.

Arthur Valentine:
https://twitter.com/ArthrValentine
https://instagram.com/arthur_valentine_
https://arthurvalentine.bandcamp.com
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2zXFyzVGATaYGQTisdneUd?si=dF1QWnLlSqiW7vBtdJhO8g

Hausu on Social Media:
https://instagram.com/_hausu_
https://facebook.com/hausurecords
https://twitter.com/_hausu_
A playlist of our biggest songs to date: https://hau.su/spotlight