Now established as a rising talent in experimental electronics, Natalie-Rose Perel, or Rose Bonica, has come a long way since her first forays into house and techno in 2016. From her Cape Town, South Africa home, she’s shared a string of captivating releases, most recently Tears For The Tea Maker, a debut album. Across 13 tracks of dark, celestial electronics, Perel delivered an ode to the intimacy that grows from supporting one another in unglamorous ways. It’s available now on Roses Are Red, her own label.

Perel’s musical adventures began as an escape from the mundanity of regular employment in web development and an equally tedious relationship. Turning to the digital skills she learned, and the various musical instruments she had around home, she began making her first electronic music, and debuted in 2017 with “Stoicism,” featured on Wet Dreams Recordings‘ Work Not Hype compilation. A gritty and chaotic jam with rich percussion and cinematic references, it symbolizes Perel’s work. On subsequent releases, both on Wet Dreams, she broadened her sound palette, ranging from uptempo dancefloor tracks and ambient electronica formed around her her own vocals.

Recorded in her bedroom over the summer, Perel’s XLR8R podcast is filled with her unreleased music and work from her friends. As you’d expect, it’s almost impossible to define by genre. As with her production work, it makes you feel uncomfortable, shaking up the complacency to remind you of the world of music out there that you’re still to discover.

01. What have you been up to recently?

I started my label, Roses Are Red, in June with the first release by the amazing Kai van Dongen, followed by a debut release from Ours, a duo I am part of with Deep Aztec. Other than that, I’ve just been busy with getting my debut album out there.

02. What are your earliest musical memories?

Driving in the car with my family and singing, or more like screaming, along to Queen classics and choreographing silly dances to Britney Spears with my friends.

03. How did you begin producing, and what when did a sound begin to form?

I needed an escape from a bad relationship and a mundane job in web development. I started producing music as a way to express myself creatively. I think it’s only in the last year or so that I’ve really started to understand my sound and feel like it’s me.

04. Speaking broadly, how is the South African music scene?

South Africa is full of amazing talent. I feel blessed to be surrounded by so many talented artists. We’ve got a lot to still overcome and to change, but it’s been inspiring to see so many young artists creating their own spaces and not waiting for the older generation to let them in.

05. How have you been spending the lockdown period?

Other than being stuck in a perpetual existential crisis? I’ve just been reconnecting with close friends through video calls and learning to take my time with things, and healing.

06. What music have you been listening to?

Eartheater, Ase Manuel, Machine Woman, Björk, FKA Twigs, SWAK CATALOG.

07. When and where did you record this mix?

I recorded the mix at the beginning of September in my bedroom, and in bed. It was super cold in Cape Town so under the duvet was the only place to be!

08. What can the listener expect?

Some techno, ambient, and don’t-give-a-fuck-what-your-genre-is kind of stuff.

09. How did you go about choosing the tracks that you’ve included?

Making a mix for XLR8R is like a dream. The pressure was on but I tried my best to let go of all that. I want to give people an idea of what my label, Roses Are Red, has to offer, now and in the future.

11. You’ve included lots of your own productions. Are these going to be released?

Some are released, some are from my debut album, and some are coming out soon, like the Eku Fantasy remix.

12. What’s up next on your agenda?

The fourth Roses Are Red release which I’ve been dying to release for the past three years. It’s a project I did with Eve Rakow called swak. I’ve given you a little taste of it in the mix!

XLR8R has now joined Mixcloud Select, meaning that to hear the podcast offline you will need to subscribe to our Select channel, or subscribe to XLR8R+ to download the file. The move to Mixcloud Select will ensure that all the producers with music featured in our mixes get paid. You can read more about it here.

Full XLR8R+ Members can download the podcast here.

Tracklisting

01. swak “Virtual Memory” (forthcoming on Roses Are Red)
02. Eku Fantasy “Ayodele” (Rose Bonica Remix) (EF)
03. Kai van Dongen “Lost Count” (Roses Are Red)
04. Rose Bonica “Get Off My Tail” (Unreleased)
05. Rose Bonica “Be Your Better Self” [City Bowl Wax Network] (Unreleased)
06. Rose Bonica “Mouthful Concrete” (Unreleased)
07. River Moon “Sinking Floating” (Unreleased)
08. Rose Bonica “Does This Mean I’m Back” (Did I Ever Leave) (CTEMF)
09. Seventhgaze “III” (SWAK CATALOG)
10. Rose Bonica “Smitten” (Unreleased)
11. River Moon “PRODUCT3” (Unreleased)
12. Rose Bonica “And the Agony was Gone” (Unreleased)
13. Rose Bonica “Don’t Always Have To Make Them Dance” (Roses Are Red)
14. Rose Bonica “Your Mother Never Taught You Manners” (Roses Are Red)
15. Rose Bonica “Deathface” (Roses Are Red)
16. Rose Bonica “Tears for the Tea Maker” (Roses Are Red)