Listen to folk-imbued Polish electronica from Naphta

Polish electronic artist Naphta has released a new EP blending dance beats with Eastern European folk motifs.

Especially commissioned by Polish indie label Tańce, Dom Strawiło (or The House Burned Down) marks the artist’s first dip into local folk rhythms, backed up with sampled vocals and violins. The four-track EP feels like a synthesis between the artist’s first house beats and the jazz and folk inflections of his instrumental music project, Naphta and the Shamans.

A producer, DJ, instrumentalist, journalist, and radio host, Naphta, the moniker of Paweł Klimczak, first tried his hand at music production in the 00s, strongly influenced by the UK house scene. Since graduating from the 2011 class of the prestigious Red Bull Music Academy, he has set his sights on expanding his sampling skills, taking from jazz, hip-hop, and folk across the globe.

But it’s the local take on electronica which is key to Tańce. “I’m pushing everyone to make the music as local as possible, to stand out, to create something absolutely unique through unexpected collisions, and also explore what is and what used to be around us, to shift the gaze from Berlin, London, or Amsterdam,” Łukasz Warna-Wiesławski, from Tańce, told The Calvert Journal.