By his early twenties, London electro-pop artist Joe Flory, aka
Primary 1, experienced success with his debut single, “Hold Me Down.” A heavy-handed whip of ‘80s synth pop and chillwave, the song was the second release by
Erol Alkan’s indie label
Phantasy Sound, which was home to
Late of the Pier’s side project La Priest. As rumors circulated that he would be a fitting producer for the likes of
Kylie Minogue and
Madonna, Flory denied that he had any aspirations of working with mainstream pop artists, and embraced Internet anonymity by wearing a lion mask in press photos. After performing a summer tour with
Metronomy, he gained recognition by collaborating with
the Shoes and
Riton on their respective singles “Ho Lord” and “Who’s There.”
Primary 1 self-released a free-for-download compilation of early demos titled Mess Detective before signing to Atlantic in 2010. ~ Jason Lymangrover