Canadian producer Ryan Hemsworth has just released his second album Alone For The First Time, so we thought it would be nice to gush over him for a bit and look at where he sits in the world of producers right now.

1. He doesn't attach to a clique

All you have to do is look at who is supporting Hemsworth on his ‘Sucker For Punishment’ tour to see how far and wide his admiration for electronic musicians stretches. Like many genres, electronic music has a tendency to place artists in a certain group or collective. The artists feature on each others tracks, nurture each other and inevitably churn out releases that sound similar. It’s not a bad thing, but part of Hemsworth’s charm is that he’s hard to place in a pre-determined group. He’s worked with Aussie producer, UV Boi, Japanese beatmaker, Qrion and has tracks on his latest album with Doss, The GTW, Little Cloud and many more. There’s hardly a common thread you can tie between them apart from Hemsworth himself.

2. He's diverse

If you were following Hemsworth’s releases in the lead up to the new album, you may have been blindsided by Alone For The First Time. Cream Soda with Tomggg was full of candied sounds while Gods with UV Boi was a profound, iphone-sound borrowing track. Even Every Square Inch with Qrion, the most similar to the album, is far more dancefloor ready than anything on the sophomore album.

Turn from that to his remixes and you’ve got a completely different Hemsworth. His remix of Beyonce’s Mine is industrial and hard-hitting while his take on Future’s Honest, is a subtle, minimalist affair. It’s easy to forget even, that some of his early tracks like Day N Nite, had him pinned as a hip-hop/RnB producer. So, what do we learn from this? Hemsworth is a product of the internet generation - a producer who is consuming a lot of music and just like trends is constantly changing his mind. He told Dummymag, “I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to fully create one single, consistent sound… which I hope is a good thing...There is a short shelf life for a lot of sounds”

3. He’s not afraid to have fun

Alone For The First Time and to some extent, Guilt Trips are heavy listens. It’s more easily listened to knowing that the producer behind them is not afraid to have a little fun. His bouncing remix of the Backstreet Boys’ Show Me The Meaning, sampling Amanda Bynes still stands as one of his most impressive outputs.

[soundcloud width="750" height="200"]https://soundcloud.com/i-d-online-1/show-me-the-meaning-of-being[/soundcloud]

4. His instagram game is top notch

This is clearly the most important point. You can’t be an important producer if you don’t have an instagram with plenty of good shit on it. Good shit, Hemsworth has. It’s an instagram full of Pokemon, ironic selfies and travelling tidbits. Oh and shoes, plenty of cool shoes.

Basically, it just makes you like the guy. So many electronic producers remain enigmatic or become bitter and fan-shy, but Hemsworth is none of those things. He’s present, funny and a little dorky.

5. He gives new producers a leg-up

All that social media presence, actually puts Hemsworth in a good position to spruik new music. Earlier this year he started his Secret Songs project which sees him release new music for free by new artists that he loves. For six months, he’s dropped songs by the likes of Tennyson, Ricky Eat Acid, Lucas, Little Cloud and more. And for many, giving them widespread exposure for the first time. Hemsworth writes a spiel about the song, as does the artist and then it’s dropped for free on the public.

“I have a following and people like my taste for whatever reason”, he told THUMP, further telling Dummymag that “it’s just trying to bring them [the producers] into the world that aren’t really in that much at the moment.” In that way, he is using his following to give exposure to artists that are still based on the internet - plucking them into the real world and exposing great but undiscovered music. Many of the artists are now touring alongside him.

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/shhsecretsongs/sets/shh-ffb6c1[/soundcloud]

6. He has his eyes on Japan where they should be

Japan is one of the most interesting countries for electronic music right now and Hemsworth is suitably fascinated. He told THUMP before even visiting the country, “I’m pretty in love with most things Japan. I was put onto a lot of Japanese horror movies when I was 13 by my older cousin, and just got obsessed with that. To me, I’m fully romanticising that world”.

Like fellow Japan-enthusiast, Porter Robinson, Hemsworth has a way of borrowing that Japanese aesthetic for his own songs. They have solemn, saddening undertones with perky, plastic synths layered on top. It’s mixing those two things just like anime does in juxtaposing its visual with the message.

He recently wrote a brilliant piece for The Fader on his trip to Japan. It tracks the experience of playing and getting by in a country where they don’t speak his language. He met Qrion, Tofubeats, Pa’s Lam System and Seiho, to name a few, and openly expressed, “I suck compared to these guys”. What’s most interesting is they can barely communicate with eachother because of the language barrier but are able to come together musically, with the help of a little alcohol. FYI, Qrion outdrinks Hemsworth.