Born in Paris to American parents, raised in Frankfurt, Switzerland, and Singapore, and now residing in Utah, 23-year-old Grammy-nominated producer Luc Bradford, simply known as ford. releases his third full-length album, ‘Guiding Hand’ via ODESZA’s Foreign Family Collective.
The album title, ‘Guiding Hand,’ is a tribute to the people in our lives who give us momentum and push us forward. For Luc, that force is intangibly linked to his older brother Parker who passed away in a swimming accident when Luc was 7. Parker had just arrived at college that summer and was in a water activity where a classmate of his got pinned in a hidden whirlpool under a bridge. Parker ended up diving in twice in an effort to rescue that friend. While he was able to save that student’s life, Parker was knocked unconscious underwater and fell into a coma which he never came out of.
The hands seen on the cover of this record are plaster casts of his Mom and Parker’s joined hands, which his parents had made in the mortuary during the week between his passing and burial. He’s one of the main reasons Luc began writing music in the first place, and remains a constant guiding force throughout his life.
“I feel so lucky to have had an older brother that exposed me to so much great music as a kid. Whether it was hearing him on his Yamaha DTxpress drum set a couple of rooms over or walking around during Fête de la musique and watching him play his djembe, he had such a real, innate love for music and always found ways to share it with others. I spent a lot of time thinking back on those years throughout the process of writing this record.”
Recording for ‘Guiding Hand’ began in late 2020, isolated within the mountains and valleys of Utah. The project came together slowly over the following months, with the bulk of the creation happening late into the night, a time when Luc feels most in tune with making music.
Sonically, ‘Guiding Hand’ is an innovative electronic record with a strong emotional resonance. Pulling from musical inspirations such as Caribou, Jai Paul, J Dilla, Toro y Moi, and Jamie XX, ford. weaves electronic, hip hop, indie, jazz, and lo-fi production utilizing intricate live drums, textured strings, modular synths, crate-dug samples, and shoe-gaze vocals from the acclaimed A Beacon School on the track ‘In Motion’. Stylistically, the music clearly cuts through as ford.’s most detailed work to date while still maintaining his familiar sound of big warm chords and emotive undertones.
“I really just wanted to be more intentional with the music this time around. A lot of it was me trying to get back to the idea of conveying emotion through just the music alone (hence the one feature) and being a little more purposeful and aware of where I was pulling inspiration from. It’s a cliché but I do think there is a lot of value in letting the music speak for itself and letting people connect to it in whatever way makes the most sense to them.”
Over two years in the making, ‘Guiding Hand’ cements a major chapter in ford.’s creative journey – a time of growth, maturity, and reflection of who he is and the influences that guide him forward. The new album ‘Guiding Hand’ officially arrives on August 11th.
With over 200 million streams, major festival plays at Coachella & Electric Forest, sold-out headline dates, a Grammy nomination, and now a 3rd album all by the age of 23, Luc Bradford p/k/a ford. has established himself as a consistent stand-out album artist in a fast-moving electronic music scene. Discovered on SoundCloud in 2017 at the age of 17 by the duo ODESZA and thereafter quickly signed to their record label Foreign Family Collective (through Ninja Tune), ford.’s first two albums ‘(The) Evening’ [2018] & ‘The Color of Nothing’ [2020] both found critical acclamation from the likes of Billboard, COMPLEX, Flaunt Magazine, Earmilk + more. Additionally, ford.’s music has been championed worldwide by the likes of Jason Bentley (KCRW), Sian Eleri (BBC R1), Chris Hawkins (BBC6), Zan Rowe (Double J), Majestic Casual, and David Dean Burkheart (to name just a few). Raised all over the world and now residing in Utah, ford.’s global upbringing has been instrumental in shaping his musical perspective. Although still young, these eclectic life experiences can be felt deeply through ford.’s music — a sound which is undoubtedly unique while simultaneously universal.
ford.
Guiding Hand
Tracklisting
Tell Me (Anew)
The Pace
In Motion (feat. A Beacon School)
Magnolia / Blue Moss
Carousel
Fly*
EVERYTHINGSALRIGHT
Hidden Sound
Everyday (Far From)
ford. On Tour
* opening for San Holo
Aug 26 – Denver, CO – Vortex Festival
Sep 27 – Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory *
Sep 28 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theater *
Sep 29 – Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo *
Sep 30 – Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo *
Oct 1 – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory *
Oct 7 – San Jose, CA – San Jose Civic Center *
Oct 13 – Minneapolis, MN – Skyway Theater *
Oct 14 – Chicago, IL – Radius *
