Great new records come in three tranches. There's your chalk: the records you saw coming from miles away, teased over months with a slowly unfurling press campaign, from an artist with full public buy-in. There's your sleepers: great records that you had a bit of context for, kept under the radar due to an indifferent social media or journalistic landscape, flowering outside of the traditional cycle. Then there are your outliers: you're walking around, an apple hits you on the head, and it inspires you.
This third tranche describes the case of Dream Curtain Eternally Gentle, the debut full-length by the London-based producer and DJ known as Stone. Released on the always timeless and cheeky 3XL, Dream Curtain Eternally Gentle dropped one fateful Friday morning without warning. All the signs were there: a steady drip of bangers on dropped each summer, perfectly complementing the slow unfurling of singles that would come together to generate James K's Friend. We should have known, but we didn't see it coming—now it's here, and we're grateful.
Part chillout compilation, part beat tape, no skips, Dream Curtain Eternally Gentle is an endlessly addictive record with all the makings of a classic. And it is. For more context, we spoke with the man himself to get a feel for what brought this blurry apple to fruition.
I guess we can start with you. Who are you, where did you come from, and where did you go?
Stone: Hi my name is Stone. Brighton > Bristol > London > ?
Take me through the name of the album, Dream Curtain Eternally Gentle. What inspired the title?
Realizing, in my opinion, gentleness is the best thing you can give to those you love. Around the time I realized that and started the album, I was living above a store called Dream Curtain, and near a ministry called Eternal Life and I loved those names. This rec reflects my time moving around Old Kent Road and trying to work life out with my friends.
Similarly, each song on the new record has a monolexemic title. What inspired such concise track titles? Was this intentional, was it vibes-based?
Wow, monolexemic! “Sozzy” and “Pixie” were the start of the album process, the names just started to fall into place after that and it felt cute.
Walk me through the technical process involved in creating this record, if any at all.
My process always feels like collage, trying to throw things at the wall and honestly reflect the sounds I want people to hear. Around halfway through the making, I decided I also wanted the “Bluetooth connected, low battery” voice inside my earphones to come alive and feel what I was feeling. 70 percent of my music is made from bed on an old-ass laptop.
When I first came across your music in the hazy post-lockdown era, you produced under a different moniker, but I can't remember what it was. What was it, and what inspired paring it down to Stone?
I used to make music under the name Mistareez but Stone is actually my gov first name. The last rec on 3XL felt like the right time to take on my birth name. Also people kept thinking my name was Reece/Reese lol.
Your oeuvre can be summarized by most as "downtempo," "trip-hop," "ambient”—what have you. And yet, I've run into you at a couple of European festivals, losing yourself to some prog or minimal at some godforsaken hour. Would you say this sort of music inspires you creatively, or do any elements of it make it into your sound?
Fuck yeah, moreso than ever and I’ll have more to share in the near future. :)
Speaking of downtempo, name your top three downtempo tracks.
Oh shit, this answer would be diff every day. Today though I'll say:
hoodie x james k “Scorpio”
Bjork “I Miss You (Dobie Remix)”
Portishead “Strangers”
Are there any contemporaries that you look up to or admire?
Madonna.
Are there any contemporaries that you loathe?
I love everyone, I have no opps.
