“Manuel Joseph Walker, known by his stage name Foliage, closes out the year of 2023 with a souped-up remix of his sole release of the year, “What?”. Walker re-imagines his newest hit as a speed-induced Drum n’ Bass banger.“
I have known Manuel for such a long time and I still remember discovering his album Truths. It was shared on this blog and later released on Z Tapes. What a great memory. If you are not familiar with Foliage, here is an intro:
“Manuel Joseph Walker, better known as Foliage, is the 25-year-old multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer crafting his own sophisticated & shimmering Jangle-Pop all out of his bedroom.
San Bernardino, California, a small town notorious for its high crime and poverty rate, is the home of one of today’s most celebrated bedroom producers.
Though this broken atmosphere is discouraging, that didn’t stop Walker from painting his own world with a blend of romantic, well-thought 80’s guitar pop, propelled by J Dilla/Nujabes inspired drums calling back to the boom-bap era.
At the age of 15 with a desire to create, paired with a long-time passion for music, Manuel began to teach himself piano and guitar.
A drummer first and foremost, Walker took no time cranking out high-energy pop classics and passionate ballads, releasing his 2015 debut Truths at the age of 16. Follow-up Silence arrived in 2017, with his most critically acclaimed record to date, III, following in 2018.
All three records received major praise among the Bandcamp community as well as many Youtube taste-makers.
Recognized as part of a growing movement of young Mexican-American indie musicians, Walker dives deeper than his contemporaries’ R&B flavored sounds, carrying the torch for acts like The Field Mice, Prefab Sprout, and The Smiths.
2019’s “Take” ascends sonically and lyrically into Walker’s personal life and was written as a tool of self-help: focusing on mental health and finding triumph in battle.“
I always appreciated his music and enjoyed working with him. Foliage became part of the Z Tapes family and I am still happy he is making new music. I am also enjoying this new mix he made of his last single. who knows, maybe we will work again in the future.
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