At the end of this month, February 21, Atlanta-based producer and musician Matt Mansfield will release his new EP, Small Plate / Rid Them. Containing two of his original productions alongside some alternate versions, both tracks draw from Mansfield's long-standing passion for dub reggae. He first fell in love with the Jamaican sound when he discovered hugely influential musician Augustus Pablo and to bring things full circle he's tapped up Augustus' son Addis to provide one of those versions. The result is a soothing piece of dub reggae that cleverly contrasts the futuristic expansiveness of dub with a more organic, pastoral sound that is guaranteed to lift your troubles from your shoulders — at least for three minutes.
Speaking with Complex via email, Mansfield told us: "Augustus Pablo was one of the artists that got me obsessed with instrumental reggae and dub music. Somewhere in 2001 I dove into his album King Tubby Meets The Rockers Uptown and from there just kept buying any vinyl I could find with his name on it. Since this project has me returning to the music that got me inspired to pursue dub reggae and putting my own twist on it, it felt right to try to reach back to that source and embody that vibe as much as possible. I had been aware of some things that Augustus' son Addis had done and knew that he carried that same kind of mysterious and moody vibe on his melodica. I simply reached out to him with an email and luckily he liked my songs and we went from there."
The Small Plate / Rid Them EP drops February 21, but you can pre-order a limited edition 7" 45 RPM vinyl of "Small Plate" backed with Addis Pablo's Melodica Version, which is available for pre-order on January 31.
