Hardway Bros, Tom Furse and Jonathan Kusuma Remix Strange Fruit

Strange Fruit, the Jakarta-based five-piece that spent a decade caught between krautrock templates and shoegaze distortion, have pivoted decisively toward machine-led rhythms and analog synthesis on Drips, a nine-track EP released on 3 April 2026 via Gentle Tuesday Recordings. The release collects four original tracks alongside five remixes handled by Sean Johnston (as Hardway Bros), Tom Furse and Jonathan Kusuma.

Title: Drips
Artist: Strange Fruit
Release Date: 2026-04-03
Genres: Electronica, Krautrock, Psychedelic Rock
Label: Gentle Tuesday Recordings
Description: Strange Fruit's Drips EP out 3 April 2026 on Gentle Tuesday Recordings. Remixes by Hardway Bros, Tom Furse and Jonathan Kusuma.

The band formed in 2012 and put out their debut EP Dolphin Leap in 2015 through Leeds Records. What followed was an extended period of lineup changes and sonic recalibration. The current configuration is Baldi Calvianca (vocals, synth), Irza Aryadiaz (synth), John Tampubolon (guitar), Nabil Favian (bass) and Dino Kristianto (drums). Calvianca is the sole remaining original member.

Drips was produced with electronic producer Bernardus Fritz. The four original tracks sit along a clear axis: ‘Iridescent’ works minimalist beats against atmospheric layering; the title track ‘Drips’ pushes shoegaze textures through hybrid electronic processing; ‘Pouvoir Moteur’ locks into motorik repetition on the NEU! template (read our interview with MIchael Rother), with Aryadiaz describing the approach as an obsession with factory machinery rendered through repetitive 4/4 patterns; and ‘Monopolar’, the track accompanied by a video directed by the filmmaking duo Mellow Splice, who also designed the EP cover artwork. The video was shot at PasMing Experience, using optical distortion and water-like imagery.

The remix component brings in three separate producers, each working from the original recordings without dismantling their structure. Johnston, operating as Hardway Bros, contributes three versions of ‘Monopolar’, pulling the track into downtempo and dub territory. Johnston co-founded A Love From Outer Space with Andrew Weatherall in 2010, a club night and DJ project that maintained a strict tempo ceiling of 122 bpm and became a long-running fixture in the UK underground. Following Weatherall’s death in January 2020, Johnston has continued ALFOS as a solo operation and recently compiled a 15th-anniversary compilation on the same principle.

Jonathan Kusuma, a DJ and producer based between Jakarta and Singapore, applies extended leftfield disco logic to ‘Iridescent’, favouring echo-heavy, repetitive bass drum patterns. Kusuma co-founded the Dekadenz collective and label in Jakarta and has released on I’m a Cliché, Cocktail d’Amore and Love On The Rocks, with DJ appearances spanning Berghain’s Panorama Bar, Lux Frágil in Lisbon and clubs across Southeast Asia.

Furse, the keyboard player in The Horrors and a member of MIEN (alongside Alex Maas of The Black Angels, Rishi Dhir of Elephant Stone and John-Mark Lapham of The Earlies), reworks ‘Monopolar’ with slower breakbeat grooves and acid house inflections. Furse has an extensive catalogue of remix work spanning artists from several corners of indie and electronic music.

Gentle Tuesday Recordings began as a recurring event night in Jakarta in 2017, founded by Calvianca together with Benedict Pardede and Moses Sihombing. It became a label in 2021. The name comes from a Primal Scream track.

The EP is available digitally across platforms. A cassette release follows on 17 April. A vinyl pressing is planned for mid-2026 through Loide Records (Southeast Asia and Japan) and TipTop Records (worldwide, excluding Southeast Asia and Japan).

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