My Petswan by miaw

The contemporary cross-pop duo miaw is set to release their debut EP “My Petswan” on November 22d through Copenhagen based label Petrola 80 (known for releases by Lyra Valenza and Astrid Sonne). Fueled by fast movements and gritty textures, the EP is a collection of wistful, experimental songs blending the remix with a pop song.

For the past year miaw, consisting of Liza Dries (NL) and Frederik Fog (DK), has been emerging as a duo of constructed melodic chaos, pushing 2000’s glitch, shoegaze and UK Bass into a modern contemporary pop context. The two both lived in Cologne, Germany and became friends through the city’s underground scene years before they started writing the foundation of what would become “My Petswan” in a cabin at the Danish coastline.

With intuitive collaboration, miaw exchanges roles fast-phased from producer, singer to instrumentalist, where in each moment one of the two can be found sampling breaks, chopping up vocals or making coffee. The duo’s capacity to sense the mood in the moment and to let go in the process leads to the poetic mixture of genres, where woozy guitar figures and bright ethereal vocals come together with gritty beats that reminds one of a 90’s metropolitan inner city gaze. “If there would be one secret weapon to miaw, it would be coffee…” Frederik says. “...and Serum” he adds.
After receiving airplay by prominent stations like BBC6, ByteFM and 1Live and being featured on numerous international magazines (Undertoner, Bands of Tomorrow, High Clouds, DMY and BPM) calling the duo “frankly mind-blowing” for their progressive production, miaw is a confined new morphed sound blending hyperpop, shoegaze and drum n’ bass seamlessly in their own unique way.
‘My Petswan’ is the first EP by the dynamic duo, deep diving into emotional waters, friendships, breakups and wonders about life and honesty.

Opening with ATT, the listener is immediately thrown into fast rhythms, saturated synths and chopped vocals revealing the cutted and pulsating feelings the EP has in store. The goal was to make a record with a soft core - dirty around the edges, “We wanted the listener to feel welcomed, softened and crushed while bouncing around”.
This feeling was particularly inspired through their community of friends DJ’ing at local clubs. Unlike typical club-like tracks, however, tracks from “My Petswan” sets itself apart in the details, uncovering hidden gems with each listen. Obeying to a “more is more” attitude, the record embraces unexpected turns, tempo shifts, hard processing and surges to surprise. This mindset led to what the two refer to as “the intersection between a remix and a pop song”, unfolding in the high speed worlds of Petswan and Want Something.
Living in Cologne, the two friends have spent almost every day together hanging out and visiting their favorite bar for a cheap white wine. Typically, a plan to make music would lead to hanging out, and a plan to hang out would result in making one of their songs, usually roughly finished within the day.
“Sometimes one of us would take a nap and wake up to find the other one has completely reshaped the track,” Liza says, “It’s a bit like entering a new space, a bit disorienting, at times super annoying, but ultimately exciting, fun and keeps the process fresh”
A handful of tracks found on My Petswan have been formed during the duo’s trip to Los Angeles, where most time would be spent scuttering around downtown and sitting at late night diners working on headphones and drinking refill coffee. The rainy, glittering downtown nightlife carries resemblance to the arpeggiated synths, clipping bass and fast drums. A feeling carried out throughout the record, akin to tracks like Santigold, Disparate Youth. Bad Day especially embodies this with its persistent trip-hop loop, layered with field recordings from the LA subway, and gritty saw wave synthesizers.

The EP ends with ‘Cleaned up DK’, ironically the first song the duo ever wrote in the cabin on the Danish seaside, telling the story of a relationship about to fall apart. With a twisted house beat pulsating the heart beat under the sound of a cheap piano and a bright, yet sentimental voice, it closes the record in a brazenly hopeful way.

‘My Petswan’ is the emotional dance state of mind, leading you through the club, to the backstage, back home, to the doubts, the breakups, the making up and chaos of being friends and sharing each other's lives.

Tracklist

1.	ATT	2:43

2.	hello hello	2:06

3.	Petswan	2:54

4.	Want Something	3:59

5.	Bad Day	5:28

6.	Cleaned Up DK	3:43

Credits

released November 22, 2024

Liza Dries: Vocals, production
Frederik Fog Bruun: Production, guitar, vocals
Eigil Pock-Steen: Mix
HYPNA: Mastering
Artwork: Liza Dries

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