We Don't Need Someone: A Chat With Mount Kimbie

British production duo Mount Kimbie are releasing their sophomore LP, Cold Spring Fault Less Youth, this Tuesday on Warp. Mount Kimbie's last release, 2010's critical darling Crooks And Lovers, eventually boxed the group into the forefront of the blogger-created pseudo-genre 'post-dubstep.' This style connoted lush-production, R&B and ambient influences combined with UK garage and 2-step. With Cold Spring, though, Mount Kimbie cannot easily be labeled by PR gurus looking to coin a music meme.

The duo retreated to its studio in South Bermondsey to create possibly the best come-down album this side of Burial. Favoring cathedral pedals and guitars over found samples, this new release is an obvious shift from previous records. Tracks like "Made To Stray" and "So Many Times, So Many Ways" even veer into electronic jams that undoubtedly could implode any of the big, sweaty outdoor festivals. Mount Kimbie sounds like a band now, even if it is still a Boiler Room favorite.

I spoke to Dominic Maker and Kai Campos (the brains behind the synths) about goofing off with members of Stereolab instead of working, their desire to cover Juicy J, and Roald Dahl as an influence on this album. Don't expect the duo to remix others soon, but they joked about releasing a cathedral pedal covers EP of Cold Spring Fault Less Youth. We can only hope.

MOTHERBOARD: What was your favorite part of the recording process for this LP?

Dom: To be honest, this is the first time we’ve ever had a record mixed. I really enjoyed that process, going through everything with a fine tooth comb with this guy who’s brilliant. It was over the course of two or three weeks.

What’s his name?

Dom: Dilip Harris. Yeah, he works under Demus—that’s his tag—and he’s made records before. It was a very different thing for us, going through each track individually.

Kai: It really changed the whole tone of the record and it wasn’t something we had thought about before.

Is that because you used live instruments on this one that mastering it made more sense?

Kai: Yeah, and like this was pre-master and everything but there was lots of—before we went to do it—I was like, ‘We don’t need someone to do it because we’re brilliant.’ Then I went to do it and after the first song it was like, I can’t believe we ever thought about not doing this.

Do you think you could do it on your own now?

Kai: No. I thought it was just handing over all your work and someone would make it sound like a pop song and then bring it back to you. It wasn’t like that at all. We sat there making the decisions and Dilip had his opinions and that was good to listen to. But essentially he was good at getting out what you wanted to say and taking things to a place you wouldn’t have thought. It was much more of a collaborative process than I thought it would be.

Read the rest over at Motherboard.VICE.com.