Emerging out of the vibrant Belgian jazz scene, Brussels based French pianist Dorian Dumont has been sharpening his piano skills and versatility in various projects, his talent most notably on full display in one of our favourite acts, ECHT!. In 2021 he began his solo journey releasing APHEXionS, and he’s ready to follow it up with a second LP titled to the APhEX. Like in the previous effort, and as the name suggests, the upcoming to the APhEX “continues that fascination with his musical hero and acts as a musical love letter of sorts – a groundbreaking experience, where the enchanting world of classical piano collides with the electronic brilliance of Aphex Twin.”

To bring the album to life, Dumont transcribed a selection of Aphex Twin’s music to grand piano, improvising upon them and transforming them into a whole new universe of his own. He explains:

“Aphex Twin is a fascinating artist and character. At first, I started transcribing his pieces just to understand them. I then sat on my acoustic piano for the pleasure of hearing these pieces that I loved so much only to realize that in the end I was improvising, I was playing. In short: I was having fun. That’s how this project was born: through pleasure and games. The challenge then was to develop the concept of this project to find my own playground and my own responses around the musical principles of Mr. justify James, in order to make this project a celebration on my own terms.”

to the APhEX is out on February 23rd through W.E.R.F. Records and ahead of it Dumont has let loose the utterly stunning lead single ‘Windowlicker’. Take a listen now.