FTSE: Love Un Ltd
Midlands-based Sam Manville aka FTSE announces his third E.P ‘Love Un Ltd’ will be released on 21st April through Lucky Number.
‘Love Un Ltd’ marks the welcome return of an artist who is fast establishing himself amongst the most prolific and impressive around. Full of original styles, FTSE is a rare creative breed, concocting new beats with an ambience on the brink of both late nights and early mornings, yet somehow always capable of nourishing neurons.
Having honed his craft with prolific and noted live act, Blakfish, Sam Manville launched FTSE last year and met with instant support and recognition for a truly fresh approach. A debut show to a sold out Brixton Electric in support of AlunaGeorge has been followed by big support and multiple plays at Radio 1. Recent single ‘St. Tropez’ featured as Zane Lowe’s ‘Next Hype’ and a live session recorded at the BBC Maida Vale studios for Huw Stephens.
No stranger to collaborations, having already duet-ed successfully with the likes of Bipolar Sunshine and Kenzie May, FTSE welcomes back Femme, who featured on FTSE II’s ‘Lost In Translation’, to add soulful gusto and hooky atmospherics in perfect feminine companionship to his confidently melancholic croon on EP opener ‘Nite Life’. ‘El Santos’ emphasises a brooding sonic journey; perfectly balancing FTSEs MC sensibilities with feature Brolin’s sweet refrains, like a fresh take on the beyond classic blend of Massive Attack and Horace Andy.
Born out of a preoccupation with “defeatism” and a world full of hypocrites, in which Manville includes himself, comes ‘Utopia’ – a refreshing and brutally honest commentary about how society’s acceptance that everything is fucked needs to be questioned. ‘Utopia’ is the protest song for Generation Z.
The final song on the EP, ‘Uniform’, is introverted and simple, bubbling with percussion and low-end theory, and shows beautifully effective restraint, like a wound whose delicate blood-waste demands attention, or a soundscape that compels one to press rewind
