Behind Kingdom - Production and Sound Design for Andreea Bostanica
Kingdom by Andreea Bostanica - produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by Horia Stan. A cinematic English-language dark pop single released April 17, 2026 via The One Records.
โKingdomโ by Andreea Bostanica was released on April 17, 2026 through The One Records. My contribution covered music production, with a focus on sound design, as well as recording, mixing and mastering.
Who did what
This was a collaboration. Dodo focused more on composition, while I focused more on sound design and contributed to the music production. I also handled recording, mixing and mastering.
The published Shazam credits list Horia Stan and Dael Damsa as producers, and Horia Stan as arranger. Those are the platform's published credits; the division of work described here is my own account of the project.
The musical direction
Lana Del Rey was a reference for the vibe we were aiming for. That is the clearest way to describe the direction behind my sound-design contribution to this English-language dark pop release. It is a musical reference, not a collaboration with Lana Del Rey.
Recording, mixing and mastering
We worked at The One Records studio in Timpuri Noi, Bucharest. The project was made in Logic Pro X, with a Neumann TLM 102 used for recording. Alongside my production and sound-design contribution, I worked on the recording, mix and master.
The master was around โ9 to โ8 LUFS. This is my approximate recollection of the loudness, not an independently verified measurement; no true-peak value is documented here. There was no particular production problem that I would single out as the story of this project.
The released song is the available listening reference. There are no session screenshots, isolated tracks or before-and-after audio examples accompanying this account.
Listen and explore
Listen to Kingdom on Spotify or watch the official video on YouTube. The project page brings together the release information and credits.
For a project in a similar direction, see my dark pop production services. For an existing recording, see mixing and mastering.
Updated October 14, 2026 to clarify the division of work and remove unverified session details from the earlier version.
Continue reading
Stem Mastering vs Stereo Mastering: Which One Do You Need?
Stem mastering vs stereo mastering: what each one is, real prices, how many stems to send, and when stems are worth it or just hide a mix problem.
Mixing vs Mastering: What's the Difference and Do You Need Both?
Mixing vs mastering explained: what each stage fixes, what it costs, when you can skip one and when to book both. Plain answers for independent artists.