WATCH: The End

(via Dazed Digital)

LISTEN: Haven

LISTEN: Jamie Woon's Night Air (CHLLNGR Boiler Room remix)

Combining elements of dub and R&B with a nocturnal aesthetic, Copenhagen-based producer CHLLNGR (aka Steven Jess Borth II) is one of the freshest sounds to emerge so far this year. Today, Dazed Digital premieres his video Lazlo directed video for "The End" which features a riveting vocal performance from Dragons of Zynth vocalist Aku.  A sensual relationship gone over the edge is captured in the video through chiaroscuro lighting and intimate camerawork.  A haunting vibe glosses over the images, but the end may just be beginning.

CHLLNGR will also be in NYC in August performing a few dates as CHLLNGR but also performing with Spoek Mathambo and fellow Green Owl labelmates, Teachers. More US tourdates will be announce for this fall. His debut album "Haven" is freshly out now. Listen to the album's title track/centerpiece "Haven" on Pitchfork which they call "chilling, goosebump-inducing". The track utilizes ghostly african rhythms and cavernous pads to coil around Borth's indistinguishable, yet hopeful-sounding intonations.

UPCOMING CHLLNGR SHOWS

8.10 New York, NY @ Piano's with Sherlock's Daughter, Rare Child

8.13 Brooklyn, NY @ Glasslands with Teachers

"The prize in Haven's percussive contributions is not just in the rhythms that result; it's also found in the natural ebb and flow with which they are weaved in and around each song, becoming almost trance-inducing via the simultaneously fluid and exact manner they are presented." - XLR8R

"Blending bass-heavy slowed-down rhythms with melodic vocals mean surprising soundscapes in CHLLNGR's debut "Haven", where deep sub-bass rings out throughout the tracks making for eeries atmospheres." -Dazed Digital

"A versatile and often chill-inducing debut, and a welcome introduction to a young producer who seems more interested in inventing new shades of gray than committing to a specific gimmick or micro-scene. " - Slant Magazine