Kauf—the moniker of LA-based singer-producer Ronald Kaufman—has been earning buzz for a minute now, filling both dance floors and local airwaves with expansive electronic compositions that are as elegant and cerebral as they are boogie-inducing.With an EP and collaborations with the likes of Polica and Fort Romeau under his belt, Kaufman is finally gearing up to release his highly-anticipated debut LP, Regrowth, due out this winter. Its latest single, "Key to Life," sees him taking a thematic step back, slowing the tempo to explore slow-building sonic textures, reflexive guitars, and ominous flutes (who knew that could be a thing?), all of which are pulled along by gauzy vocal harmonies into the rhythm. It's a once comforting and disorienting, like walking backwards through a familiar path home.Kaufman says that's just the point:"Most of the songs on the album are about close relationships and rebuilding after some of them fracture, hence the title, Regrowth, but whereas the first two tracks we released focused on romantic relationships, this song goes a little further back into adolescence," he says. "What came to mind was this parental joke, "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it." It's something that I think a lot of kids hear and shrug off, but on further reflection it's pretty dark. I felt like it was a good symbol for some of the discord and distance that developed between my parents and myself during my teen years.Moreso than any group or minority, I think children are the last great underclass of our society. To me, the fact that things like spanking and circumcision are still legal in this country is proof of that, and yet this is sadly missing in most public discourse. By their very nature children can't have proper representation in media and politics, so I think we need to speak up for them more and look more critically at our own histories."Take a listen to the premiere of "Key to Life" below, and check out more of Kauf's music on Soundcloud.
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Andrea Domanick is the West Coast Editor of Noisey. Follow her on Twitter.