Vietnamese-Australian Beatmaker pastels Shares ‘Love Garden’ Album
June 2, 2023 BY Jason Currell
Today, Vietnamese producer pastels shares her latest album Love Garden. The nine-track project mixes instrumentals with vocal features from Jessica Domingo, ThatKidMaz, Elysia and more. Love Garden marks the Melbourne-based instrumentalist’s first full-length release with Nettwerk.
“’Love Garden’,” pastels describes, “is an album reflecting on love and relationships. As most of the project is instrumental, listeners are open to interpret the songs however they vibe with it. Ideally, my main goal is for listeners to feel like they are in a warm, romantic and luscious garden party.”
To celebrate the drop of Love Garden, pastels (given name Annie Bui) has organized a release-day album launch party in Melbourne. The stacked event will feature a full playthrough of the album as well as sets from album collaborators Elysia and ThatKidMaz, support from producers Häzel and Tentendo, and DJ sets from x8nder and Jerry C. The event will be sponsored by local businesses such as Scoopy ice cream, Heaps Normal Beer and Hot Dog Hustle. More info on the release party HERE.
Love Garden follows the release of five singles including February’s breakout track “Could’ve Been U” (HERE). The slow jam, which features Pacific Northwest vocalist Jessica Domingo, picked up strong support in both the retail and blog spaces. Stereofox lauded the track, saying it was “simply put, mesmerizing,” while HYPEFRESH praised the song for its “heartfelt reflection” and “sensual mood.” “Could’ve Been U” also scored several Spotify editorial additions, including New Music Friday AU/NZ (357K likes), R&B Connect (191K likes) and R&B Feels (104K likes).
Love Garden’s location in a garden party continues pastels’ theme of picking distinct settings for each of her projects, one of the major reasons for her proficiency in world-building through instrumentals. Previously, she released a double EP with Bay Area producer Mr. Hong that focused on emulating a coffee shop—cafe a.m. and cafe p.m..
Love Garden is available at digital retailers here: https://pastels.ffm.to/love-garden
Love Garden tracklist
01. Love Garden (w/ Häzel)
02. Sway Closely
03. Consumed (w/ Eileen Sho Ji)
04. Wet Roses
05. Ramon & Juliet (w/ ThatKidMaz)
06. Nightride
07. Could’ve Been U (w/ Jessica Domingo)
08. Dreamfield
09. Divine Pleasures