In this new Rolling Stone AU/NZ series, we get to know the music tastes of artists through their favourite records. Next up, Eora/Sydney-based producer and vocalist Skeleten.
Skeleten makes music for that moment when you’re just lying there, mind racing, body still, trying to hear yourself over the noise.
The Eora/Sydney-based producer and vocalist Russell Fitzgibbon has always been drawn to the blurrier edges of feeling. As Skeleten, he builds shimmering, shifting soundscapes where dreamy vocals drift over glitchy guitars and anxious beats. But his second album, Mentalized, digs deeper. It’s sweatier. Stranger. Rawer around the edges. There are hints of nu-metal, trip-hop, industrial noise – but also softness, stillness, and space to breathe.
“There’s so many people telling you how to hack your brain in a torrent of information… I felt like I was being mentalized, like a TV hypnotist, 24/7,” he says.
Instead, he made this record. It’s messy in a very intentional way. Like a train of thought that doesn’t resolve but keeps moving forward. Like a body trying to find its own rhythm again.
“Mentalized isn’t ‘about’ this stuff,” he says. “It’s just the music that comes from working through it.”
Now, with Mentalized out in the world and a May tour incoming, Rolling Stone AU/NZ asked Skeleten to share the records that helped shape his album – music that cracked something open, or held him in that in-between state, or just kept him grounded when everything else felt a bit too much. And of course, his picks are as expansive and curious as his own music.
Catch Skeleten live on May 16th at Liberty Hall, Sydney, and May 23rd at The Night Cat, Melbourne. Tickets are available here.
Check out Skeleten’s favourite records below – and in the video above.
Skeleten’s Mentalized is out now via Astral People Recordings / 2MR.
Acopia – Acopia
Uniquely captivating downtempo dream pop/trip hop from Naarm. Acopia are consistently putting out transcendent stuff and this, their second album, has some of my favourites on there.
V/A – 3AM Spares
Beautifully compiled reissue from Efficient Space, with weirdo Melbourne acid, rave and darker house tunes from the ’90s vaults. Efficient Space have an incredible knack for recognising and unearthing forgotten tracks that really speak to now.
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Thievery Corporation – It Takes A Thief: The Very Best of Thievery Corporation
A straight -up Best Of but I think that works for Thievery Corporation who had such a consistent vibe and output through their career. Just a great representation of the chillout era with classics that never get old.
Logic1000 – Mother
Debut LP from beloved Syd ex-pat. Deep and warm, melodic and soothing. Thoughtful house music for home or headphones. Great feats and collabs.
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Global Communication – 76:14
One of my all-time favourite ambient releases from Mark Pritchard and Tom Middleton. Sounds from deep within or deep without. A real delight of ’90s euphoric soundscape.
