Mike Simonetti, the brilliant producer and co-founder of Italians Do It Better and founder of Troubleman Unlimited, announced (officially) on Thursday that he’s left IDIB and is starting 2MR (Two Mikes Records), a new label with Captured Tracks founder Mike Sniper. To coincide with that, Simonetti also announced the April release of The Past We Leave Behind, a new album for his new project, Pale Blue, a collaboration with Silver Hands’ Elizabeth Wight.
According to Billboard, there wasn’t any drama between Simonetti and Johnny Jewel: IDIB just evolved into a project in Johnny’s domain.
“The label was becoming more of Johnny’s thing, basically. I wanted to do my own thing and let him have Italians,” Simonetti told Billboard’s Harley Brown.
And now the record: 2MR has already released the title track as the first single off the record. It’s a gorgeous and melodic synth-pop cut, filled with atmospheric synths and Wight’s ethereal vocals, supported by some trademark Simonetti beats. It has shades of Simonetti’s last IDIB EP, Capricorn Rising, but exudes a bit more classic vibes and reflects a lot of what he’s been doing lately with his mixes. Like several of his cuts, it’s infused simultaneously with melancholia and a bright shade of optimism. Based on what Simonetti told Brown, it seems that this is mostly what 2MR will sound like, which is fucking awesome.
