Jeff Hartford, known as ATTLAS, and Richard Walters have teamed up to create ‘Shapes In My Head,’ artfully crafting a narrative through an AI’s perspective. This unique collaboration blurs the lines between club music, orchestral arrangements, and intimate singer-songwriter melodies.
In our journey through a post-pandemic world, Canadian producer Jeff Hartford (ATTLAS) and British vocalist Richard Walters provide a refreshing take on isolation, hope, and the human experience. Their debut album “Shapes In My Head,” released under the collaborative name Sun Lo, stands as a shining example of transformative artistry, conceived during the social and professional upheaval of lockdown. This remarkable duo, who have yet to meet face-to-face, have woven their distinct creative energies into a poignant narrative that explores an AI protagonist’s isolation, mirroring the pervasive frustrations and fear triggered by the pandemic.
“Shapes In My Head” emerged as a beacon of their digital collaboration, kindled by pandemic circumstances. Starting as raw and untamed demos, the project evolved into a mature musical journey that fearlessly delves into the shadowy aspects of our collective experience.
The lyrics, while painting a picture of a dystopian future and our challenging present, are tinged with a hopeful subtext, hinting at a brighter, more harmonious future between humans and technology. Walters’ haunting vocals, combined with Hartford’s prowess in fusing electronic soundscapes with the heartfelt nuances of singer-songwriter music, establish Sun Lo as a groundbreaking and captivating act to watch.
Can You Describe How the Concept of “Shapes In My Head” Came About?
During the pandemic, time seemed to stand still. No shows, altered release strategies, no friends to see—the isolation took a toll on both my mental and emotional well-being. Richard reached out to me after discovering some of my music, and he proposed that we try writing music together. That gesture was a lifeline, offering me a reason to concentrate on projects instead of succumbing to the enveloping uncertainty and fear. I had amassed a significant collection of diverse demos from years of composing.
Many of these tracks didn’t align with my previous releases—either labels were uninterested, or the ideas hadn’t reached the same level of refinement as my published work. Richard’s songwriting and singing breathed new life into these compositions, setting off a chain reaction of creativity. Though our initial hopes were set on a single collaboration, we quickly recognized that we were amassing a substantial and cohesive body of work. This led us to the decision to christen our collaboration with a new name, Sun Lo—a dedicated vessel for our joint creativity, distinct from our solo endeavors.
And thus, Sun Lo was born! “Shapes In My Head” was the inaugural track of our collaboration, defining the direction of our writing and production—a tapestry that is emotional, introspective, and authentic, painted with broad strokes of textures and atmospheres.
The Lyrics Reflect Both the Plight of an AI and the Frustration of Lockdown. Can You Elaborate on How You Merged These Themes?
While I can’t specifically address the lyrical content, I can definitively state that the majority of the writing stemmed from feelings of social isolation and financial and professional uncertainty. The music I was immersing myself in during this time echoed these sentiments—a blend of foggy ambient, lo-fi, industrial, and experimental genres, with artists like Prince of Denmark, DJ Healer, Mount Shrine, and Tim Hecker providing the soundtrack.
This was during a time when borders were sealed, visiting friends and family was a distant dream, and vaccines were not yet available. This atmosphere inevitably shaped my mindset, self-perception, and the music I was creating. Regardless of the pandemic, being secluded in a windowless basement, finding rest in a sleeping bag on a cold floor, isn’t a situation where I’d find myself thriving. These circumstances heavily influenced the initial drafts of the demos. However, when Richard added his voice and lyrics to the tracks, a newfound sense of hope started to emerge within the sound.
As the world was metamorphosing, I felt marooned and directionless. Yet, I persisted with what I knew best: writing music. As the album neared completion, the world began to tentatively open up again. During this journey, which spanned the pandemic and the creation of the album, I moved three times. By the time I settled in my third and current residence, AI had emerged as a dominant theme in various discussions—ranging from technology and art to economics. While this wasn’t an explicit influence on my composition process, I sensed an impending shift in the creative landscape. In either defiance or acceptance of this changing world—and perhaps simply because it’s the only way I know—I poured myself into my craft, striving to capture uniquely human nuances in the melodies and arrangements that I created.
Jeff, How Did This Project Allow You to Blend Your Interests in Singer-Songwriter Music and Electronic Music?
My roots are in singer-songwriter music—that has always been my foundation as a musician and writer. From various bands and open mics to recording folk, rock, and punk albums, to spending countless hours at the family piano, I’ve extensively engaged with this form of musical expression.
Despite my later shift towards electronic music, I continued to draw from these singer-songwriter roots as the foundational structures for most of my compositions. The change was in the tools and instruments I employed, not in the essential form of the music itself. Reflecting on this, I’ve realized that this might be why my work doesn’t perfectly align with the typical club scene—it’s crafted from a different, more narrative-driven mold that I have nurtured more deeply than the standard club format. This background, combined with Richard’s own style, likely played a role in our ability to produce such a substantial amount of work in a relatively short time.
Before we began our collaboration, I spent significant time absorbing Richard’s previous works, which gave me insights into how to complement his musical structures effectively. Our project is unmistakably rooted in electronic music, but at its heart, it is songwriting—not simply a club track engineered around a catchy hook. This hybrid approach is a recurring pattern in the arrangements I construct, and it’s clearly present in this collaborative work.
What Are the Future Plans for Sun Lo? Is There Any Chance of a Physical Meeting and Perhaps a Live Performance in the Future?
For a venture that initially began as a means to keep our creative flames alive during an unusually isolating period, it’s rather remarkable that we’ve emerged with a full album, a fresh band identity, and the backing of the fantastic label, Nettwerk. While some of the material we initially created didn’t make the cut for the album, we’ve continued to generate new original pieces for the project since then.
We’ve established a rhythm where we continually exchange ideas, aligning with both of our working styles. While we will undoubtedly continue to nurture our independent careers, there is a distinctive synergy that materializes when we blend our ideas—a dynamism that doesn’t seem to manifest in our separate endeavors. The aspiration is certainly for us to collaborate in person in the very near future. Although we have maintained our writing and production for the project since the album’s completion, I’m particularly eager to discover how our creative process and the final output will transform when we have the opportunity to sit side-by-side—whether it’s in a studio, at a piano, or with guitars in hand. My intuition suggests that this experience will bring a more authentic “band” feel to our work, which is precisely the direction I envision for our live performances.
While I am fully committed to utilizing the extensive tools and performance gear that the electronic realm offers, I envision our live set being presented as a more traditional live act rather than a DJ set. And, in a surprising twist, I might even find myself contributing background vocals and harmonies. The entire process of music creation and collaboration has flowed naturally and comfortably thus far, and I have no reason to expect this will change anytime soon.