New York-based electronic music artist and producer Amanda Steckler writes, records and performs under the moniker of Blonde Maze, and her forthcoming debut EP, Oceans, primarily focuses on the pain, excitement and longing that comes with being an ocean away from someone – or something dear to you, Steckler explained to me via email, and was written between New York and London.

The EP’s first single “Summer Rain” is comprised of layers of slowly cascading synths, a glitchy vocal sample, swirling electronics and an aching vocal that at times sound as though manages to gently float over the mix. In some way it gives the track both a very spectral and bracing feel – it simultaneously evokes the sensation of being haunted by the presence of a distant loved one that maybe you can’t possibly have because of that distance, and of jumping into a cold pool on a hot summer day.

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