Fraser T Smith had a clear vision for his new EP. “My aim is for it feel like you’re on drugs,” the super producer tells me with a grin, “without necessarily being on drugs.” We Were We Still Are, Smith’s latest release under his solo project Future Utopia, is a hedonistic trip into a weird and wonderful realm. “A lot of it is about escapism, [so] I wanted it to feel heady,” he explains. “There’s a psychedelic element, but I wasn’t banging loads of acid while I was writing.”
The EP is Smith’s second Future Utopia release, following his 2020 debut 12 Questions, which included the Ivor Novello-winning single “Children of the Internet”. It’s the latest, assured step into the spotlight from a man who has previously been content to stay in the background. Ask someone to name the top producers in music right now and they’d probably rattle off a few obvious contenders: in pop, perhaps it’d be Swedish svengali Max Martin, Ryan Tedder, or Taylor Swift’s bestie Jack Antonoff, while in rock, Rick Rubin still holds plenty of sway. But ask the UK’s top rappers for their favourite producer and Smith’s will be the name that comes up time and again.
