In wave music, there are few names that hold as much weight as Jude Kaufmann–better known as Kareful, an OG wave producer and the co-founder of Liquid Ritual, Dektora, and most recently, Wave Global.
After dedicating a huge amount of time post-covid to curating and promoting wave shows all over Europe–including two years’ worth of wave nights at the prestigious Amsterdam Dance Event as well as the beloved “Liquid Ritual Conference” in 2022–this artist-slash-industry-savant has finally returned to his DAW and gave us the gift of his 3rd EP, Phantom.
This EP builds on what we already have come to expect from Kareful–fresh, emotional atmospheres, soft melodies with a tinge of darkness, and an absolutely seamless effort to infuse classic wave sounds with catchy modern twists. Phantom even includes a new collaboration with Mannequin, who went B2B with Kareful during ADE 2022. This new joint effort also follows “Adele,” another song released by this pair of producers back in March 2023.
Check out Phantom by Kareful on Spotify, below.
Of the four tracks, the titular song, “Phantom”, is definitely high up on our favorites list. However, we highly recommend starting it from the top and letting it play all the way through at least once, if not twice–for the full effect.
Overall, Phantom provides a pleasant listening experience that is both accessible, yet complex–emotional, but not overly so. This EP is an experience that is wholly engaging, but not distracting. As a result, Kareful provides us with the perfect wavy project for anytime listening.
Speaking on this new EP, Kareful shares, “I wanted to create something that homages the original wave sound that I know the fans want to hear, but with a 2023 twist. I’ve been heavily focused on promoting wave shows for the last few years, but it felt like time to put out a collection of tracks vs random singles. It was a lot of fun putting Phantom together and I hope you all enjoy it.”
Want more Kareful?
Check out his mix from Cyberwave Collective’s URL festival from earlier this year, via SoundCloud.
Keep in touch with Kareful:
Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | SoundCloud | Spotify
Are you enjoying MendoWerks Magazine? Receive updates each week directly in your inbox. Sign up for the newsletter here.
Find more wave music here.
About Author
