for immediate release:

murge is kicking off 2023 with serious dancefloor vibes in the form of new single ‘'virtue’.

with an off the cuff detroit influenced vibe, inspired by 90s pioneers like theo parrish and andrés, virtue is a drum forward banger that is born ready for the club. “in 2021 i was missing playing to crowded dancefloors so i found myself studying lots of sets from djs i find inspiring”, murge shares, “virtue is an ode to my old hip hop roots and cut and paste aesthetic, stemming from when i used to chop up drum beats and samples to create these polyrhythmic percussive patterns and melodic elements, all just pulled from random source material.”

this eclectic approach is somewhat of a murge hallmark; his influences are wide ranging and free flowing; from the cosmic era of disco to psychedelic jazz, from latin rhythms fused with the elasticity and inclusiveness of world-inspired music to early house. virtue is a nod to the uk breakbeat scene and his former hip-hop production roots; immersive rhythms and stretched vocals meet at dancefloor centric tempos.  “when I first started making beats, the equipment that i used had super limited sample time so it forced me to find creative ways to get the most music out of a limited resource,” murge shares. “nowadays the capabilities of production software and music gear are virtually limitless, so i like to try and give myself challenges by setting limits on what i use to create a song.” 

murge’s fresh approach to creating music combined with his inimitable skills as a dj and producer, have led to accolades and collaborations far reaching from his beloved home on vancouver island, canada. signed to loci records in 2020, the last few years have been ones of artistic growth, with collaborations with labelmates emancipator and frameworks, not to mention remixes of his original tracks by parra for cuva,   pushing him in front of a wider audience, racking up over 9 million streams and almost 2 million listeners across the globe on the way. 

murge has been spinning virtue across shows and festivals since the summer, “it definitely passes the dancefloor test!”, he laughs. and this guy certainly knows how to pack a dance floor. 2022 has seen a return to form, with murge taking to the stage at  shamabala, bass coast and rifflandia, bringing the party and lifting the vibe. he‘s shared stages with bonobo, dj shadow, flying lotus, hot chip, de la soul and wu tang clan.

murge is riding high following a couple of breakout years, winning accolades from peers and listeners alike. championed by the legendary sasha, and with support from heavyweights such as bbc radio 1, bbc radio 6, sirius xm, indie shuffle and electro pose, not to mention landing on some of the biggest spotify editorial playlists going for electronic music (brain food, and chill tracks), murge is confidently carving out his place in the electronic landscape.

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Photos by Kim Jay