Trip-Hop Pioneer Eric Hilton Partners With Berlin-Based Analog Atelier RESØR For Signature Rotary Mixer; New LP, “A Sky So Close,”

TRUST A THIEF — ERIC HILTON SIGNATURE SERIES LIMITED TO 50 HAND-BUILT UNITS

NEW SINGLE, “THE EMERALD DOOR,” FROM FORTHCOMING STUDIO ALBUM, 
A SKY SO CLOSE, NOW STREAMING ONLINE

A SKY SO CLOSE, ERIC HILTON’S ELEGANTLY EROTIC NEW STUDIO ALBUM,
AVAILABLE VIA MONTSERRAT HOUSE MUSIC ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20

SHOP: TRUST A THIEF — ERIC HILTON SIGNATURE SERIES ROTARY MIXER
(ORDER VIA THE RESØR STORE)

STREAM: “THE EMERALD DOOR”
(FROM A SKY SO CLOSE ON YOUTUBE)

WATCH: TRUST A THIEF — ERIC HILTON SIGNATURE SERIES
(DEMONSTRATION VIA RESØR)

SHOP: 180 GRAM LIMITED EDITION A SKY SO CLOSE VINYL
(PRE-ORDER VIA ERIC HILTON’S STORE)

“This mixer reflects how I actually listen and perform,” says Hilton. “It’s about flow, subtlety, and intention. RESØR understood that immediately.” The Trust A Thief – Eric Hilton Signature SeriesRESØR Rotary Mixer is available to order now exclusively HERE.

This collaboration arrives during a particularly focused creative period for Hilton. His forthcoming solo album, A Sky So Close, will be released on February 20, and both projects reflect his continued emphasis on atmosphere, subtlety, and immersive listening, values that also shape the philosophy behind this instrument. Check out the album’s new single, “The Emerald Door,” on YouTube HERE and on all platforms HERE. 

“This record is an atmosphere, a state of mind. I indulge myself by making music that I want to listen to,” says Hilton. “It’s a more solitary record than some of my other work, there is not a big list of guest performers on this one. It’s really like my stream of consciousness.”

A Sky So Close follows Hilton’s well-honed production methodology of layering samples and live playing to deliver a more organic sound, with the added punch and feel that only a performance can bring. “I’m really a bassline designer,” says Hilton. “I mean, I’m a passable bass player, but if a lick is a little too tricky for me, I’ll bring in a friend to play it. And I also really like to weave bass samples and live playing together, so you can get new kinds of grooves that one person couldn’t really play.” Drop the needle on “Kali” or “Ghatam” to settle into two of the album’s deepest bass grooves.

The title track delivers the album’s most widescreen elegance. Finger tipped tabla hits, string flourishes, wah guitar and a cooking bassline create an empyrean expanse filled with exotic birds, ancient aliens, and beckoning goddesses. Perhaps the most surprising piece on the album is “The Emerald Door”, a desi-meets-drum and bass exploration that sounds somewhat adjacent to the Asian Underground music scene of the late-’90s.

For the final two tracks on the album, Hilton gently leads the listener back out of the haze. “Behind My Eyes (Reprise)” has a laid back but tough groove; the goddess slides your jacket on, kisses your cheek and gently pushes you out her door, back onto the street. “The Lotus Gate” is a mysterious closer, with Ipcress File dramatics that seem to be leading somewhere explosive … but where to next? Eric Hilton is full of musical surprises.

In the meantime, let go, and fall into the sky. It is … so … close.