Photo: Fabian Brennecke
A central figure of the contemporary UK scene, and a longtime favourite here at CTD, Bex Burch is gearing to release There is only love and fear. Marking the first album under her own name, it saw the gifted composer, percussionist, producer and instrument maker compose and record it in various spaces in the US with an astonishing cast of musicians including Ben LaMar Gay, Macie Stewart, Anna Butterss, Mikel Patrick Avery, and Dan Bitney of Tortoise.
Burch enticed us back in July with the stunningly deep and beautiful ‘Dawn blessings’ and now she is sharing a second track from the album called ‘Don’t go back to sleep’, co-composed by and featuring Dan Bitney (synthesizer). Prompted by the rhythms and melodies of birdsong, ‘Don’t go back to sleep’ is an elevating and delightfully enchanting song full of wonder. Speaking about the single, Burch comments:
“‘Don’t go back to sleep’ is simply polymetric exploration of time. With Dan Bitney in the room, I’m falling, phasing, almost. Pushing the boundaries of time. If the beat is a tiny moment within the vastness of space around it, then playing with that space and where to place the note is my joy.”
Dan Bitney had also this to say about it:
“I had a wonderful time meeting Bex. We got coffee first, then we hit the studio. Ben showed up a little later. We were really getting into a groove together, it felt natural trying different ideas, we were meshing. Then a tornado rolled through Chicago, the sirens went off and we stopped and looked at the sky. Soon we returned to the studio and made more music. We eased the atmospheric pressure and cleared the skies. This session was joyful and I’m super happy to have been part of it.”
Burch has made a video to accompany the track, and commenting on it she said:
“Filmed from the back of a boat or from inside the water at various lakes around Berlin, Gransee, Teglersee, bit further North in Usedom and further south on the coast of Portugal. Water, waves, the rhythm of wave, the energy and shapes of waves are massively important to me. I learnt more about this album swimming in the lake than in the studio.
This video, for ‘Don’t go back to sleep,’ also features the elemental sun, setting along those waves on one horizon, which seems to try to move in and out of sync with the other horizon of swans taking off, even with moments where the swans and the sunlight merge together into shapes of light. Which echoes mine and Danny’s sound waves moving in and out of sync and towards and away, becoming each other and separating: the combination of those waves affecting each other is what you hear.”
Now watch the video below.
There is only love and fear is set for release on October 20th through International Anthem.
