Experimental electronic artist Sonotto returns with another woozy delight to occupy your ear drums. Casual Sex is out on 26th July 2023 via HUBB Records. The single was created as a result of Sonotto creating sounds for an upcoming short film and resonating in a moment with one of the loops. Sonotto elaborates, “the element of Casual Sex that started it, was the intro bleeps and bloops that I made using a DX7 Synth emulator. I knew what was happening felt right because all of a sudden, I wasn’t doing it. I became a channel for creative energy that wanted to express through me in that moment.
What inspired this song?
I was actually scoring a short film when I started making the song, which was about the AIDS pandemic during the 1980s. Because it was set in this period, I was using a DX7, an iconic 80s synth. It was this synth that I used to create the intro bleeps and bloops that ultimately became the main melody; the rest of the track just flowed from there. I knew what was happening felt right because all of a sudden, I wasn’t doing it. I became a channel for creative energy that wanted to express through me in that moment.
The lyrics were recorded in a single take; at least, the intro was from memory. To come up with the lyrics I did on the spot, I must have either been inspired by the subject matter of the short film or just sexually frustrated! – Who knows. I didn’t write any of the lyrics down; it all flowed quite easily once I hit record in my studio.
What’s the message of the track and what inspired the artwork and aesthetics?
In retrospect, for me, the story is about someone who has invested their happiness into sexual activity. I imagine the character already appears to have everything they desire, only to realize its futility through a sexual encounter. The suggestion is that nothing external in life, including sex, can fulfill any form of peace or happiness. So once the character invests their happiness in sex, arguably the highest form of pleasure, everything before it has lost all and any fulfillment. ‘I’m stuck to you, wrapped around you, but everything’s gone,’ ‘Why did you do it?’ – Lyrics from ‘Casual Sex.’
As for the artwork, I wanted each collection of the shoot to represent stages of a cycle in sexual experience: The beach shots are desire and longing, the indoor shots are bliss and fear, and the rocks/water represent isolation and separation – which becomes longing, continuing the cycle. To bring this to fruition, I contacted Daniel Camargo-Grosso (@jadorehardcore_), a Bristol-based photographer and founder of Conqueer events. It was a multi-day shoot on location at Brean Beach and in a studio in Bristol, with photography, lighting, and post-production by Daniel, and styling, location, and creative direction by myself.
