Selections: Wallace

Wallace has been one of the most talked about artists of the past three years, with a string of must-have releases and bookings from Lisbon’s Lux Fragil and Berlin’s Panorama Bar, to London’s Corsica Studios.

Based in the leafy West Midlands town of Shrewsbury — having moved back to Shropshire after time spent in Edinburgh — he says that the “countryside life allows me the focus and energy I need to put into the music, as well as inspiring me to create”.

And create he has. 2024 was a stellar year, providing the deep house and garage-leaning cuts of the ‘Papertrip’ EP (Rhythm Section), the proggy swells of his Phantasy Sound debut ‘Cravings’/’Concourse’, and the chunky, funky rhythms of ‘Tanzanite’ and ‘M’bira’ — both inspired by childhood trips to Africa — and their throbbing tech-house B-side ‘Red Velvet’ (On Loop). Digging further back there are gorgeous, cascading melodies on 2023’s ‘Red, Yellow, Black’ album for Mule Musiq, the entrancing psychedelic chug of ‘Willow’ for CWPT, and the wonk and whimsy of ‘Chicken’s Head’ and ‘Air’ from his ‘Lemon Dreams’ EP for Studio Barnhus. Plus there’s the output of his Tartan Records label, a home for tracks with, shall we say, unofficially borrowed elements, which has given us such crowdpleasers as the mighty ‘Ayo!’.

There’s a sense of nostalgia in his work, not in the common form of simply emulating some past style of music, but in how he communicates personal experiences and the warmth and wonder found within them. “The nature influences running through much of my music are subconsciously drawn from growing up with a father who made animal programmes for a living,” he says when we ask about the role memory plays in his music. “I’m also permanently drawing from conscious memories, be them via an ongoing iPhone notes list or sometimes as you start to create the sound sparks memories which take you to a certain time or place. That transportive feeling of music is something I’m constantly seeking out in my own work, and one of the things I most love about music.”

Back home, he’s also found an outlet running free events with some mates down at his local. “A half-baked pub beer garden idea between friends has fast turned into a really important gathering in our town,” he says. “There’s a surface level silliness, but beyond that it is helping to connect like-minded Shrewsbury people, and as someone said at the last one, ‘You’ve given a space for the older generation to feel comfortable dancing again’. The pub does well out of it, the people get a free dance, DJ pals have a nice gig and we’re able to raise funds for charity… wins all round.”

For this week’s Selections, Wallace spotlights some essential cuts in his record bag, from psychedelic ’90s techno and spacey krautrock, to throwback house heat and gems from friends. Dive in below.