Yann Tiersen’s new album, Kerber, out this summer

12 May 2021

Photo: John Fisher

Yann Tiersen has announced the release of a new album, the follow up to 2019’s Portrait. Entitled Kerber, it is reportedly his most electronic effort to date, indicating a further step in the direction taken in previous albums whilst also venturing into a new territory. On the upcoming album, and as the press release describes, “the piano is the source, but electronics are the environment that they exist within. Tiersen explains:

“You may get this intuitive thinking of, ‘oh it’s piano stuff’, but actually it’s not. I worked on piano tracks to begin with but that’s not the core of it, they are not important. The context is the most important thing – the piano was a precursor to create something for the electronics to work around.”

The French composer worked on the album in his studio The Eskal, an abandoned discotheque turned into studio, venue and community centre, in the island of Ushant where he lives. Kerber, as with previous albums, is steeped in the sense of place, taking its name from a chapel in a small village on the island, with each track linked to a place mapping out the immediate landscape that surrounds Ushant.

Kerber will see the light of day on August 27th through Mute and ahead of it, Tiersen will release a book of sheet music on July 20th, featuring the album’s seven pieces presented for Solo Piano, with preface by Tiersen.

‘Ker al Loch’, the first single to be let loose from the upcoming album, serves as a perfect taste for what’s to come. The single is offered with an accompanying video directed by Sam Wiehl, who had this to say about it:

“Using the abstracted geographical imagery created by Katy Ann Gilmore [the artist behind the album’s artwork] as a starting point, and further referencing the coast line of Ushant and the natural world, we created imagery (ranging from fantastical re-imagines of landscape, seas and atmospheric conditions to the processes in micro biology and chemical reaction) to capture the beauty and scale of Tiersen’s composition.”

Watch the video for ‘Ker al Loch’ below.

Liars announce new album The Apple Drop, share video for first single ‘Sekwar’

08 May 2021

Liars have been turning our heads for a long time, constantly taking exciting and unexpected turns from album to album. After re-emerging in 2017 as the solo project of singer and guitarist Angus Andrew, Liars released two albums since and there’s no sign of slowing down with the 10th record just announced this week. Entitled The Apple Drop, the album is a collaborative affair that saw him working with longtime favourite drummer Laurence Pike, multi-instrumentalist Cameron Deyell and lyricist Mary Pearson Andrew. “My goal was to create beyond my abilities – something bigger than myself”, commented Angus. “For the first time I embraced collaboration from an early stage, allowing the work of others to influence the work of my own.”

Speaking about the themes that sparked the album, Angus stated that “momentum and revolution were themes I wanted to explore, to give the listener this sense of transformation and to feel like you were being transported through the wormhole.” He adds:

“On each project I’ve essentially abandoned previous methods and attempted to instead learn different ways of writing and producing songs. Where once I perceived this journey as a straight line, I’m increasingly realising my trajectory is more akin to a spiral. As new ideas are generated, older ones take on new meaning and evolve further.”

The Apple Drop is set for release on August 6th through Mute and along with the announcement, Liars have shared the first single ‘Sekwar’. The track come paired with a video directed by Clemens Habicht. Watch it below.

Matt Evans announces second album, touchless, and shares first single ‘Arcto 2’

06 May 2021

Photo: Gregory Wikstrom

One of our favourite albums released last year, New Topographics, came from the hands of ingenious Brooklyn based multi-instrumentalist and composer Matt Evans, so we’re delighted to know he’s ready to follow it up with a new album. Entitled touchless, the forthcoming album was written between 2019 and 2020 after the loss of his partner, sculptor and eco-feminist artist Devra Freelander. A moving creation that reflects and transmutes grief and loss into a work of art, the album came to life as “a way for Evans to externalize his experiences and make them real outside of himself” and “crystallize some sentiment from the last few years” as the press release describes. “Ultimately, it’s his way of reaching through the void to touch something lost, and to remember how real those experiences are.”

touchless will see the light of day on June 25th through Whatever’s Clever Records but we can already wrap our ears around the first single ‘Arcto 2’, a delicate, poignant and beautiful track. It comes with a striking video made by Evans, featuring landscape footage shot by Devra in 2017 in Norway. Through the video, “Evans questions the phenomenology of touch, reaching to transcend the boundaries of the physical to embody touch (of landscape, of those we’ve lost) while being touchless.” Here it is.

Listen to Masayoshi Fujita’s third single ‘Morocco’, new album incoming on May 28th

05 May 2021

Scheduled for release later this month via Erased Tapes, Bird Ambience is the beautiful and beguiling new album from master vibraphonist, multi-percussionist, and composer Masayoshi Fujita. Following two magnificent singles, ‘Thunder‘ and the title track, Fujita is giving us another extraordinary taste from the album with ‘Morocco’, a cinematic track that gently whisk us away on a voyage of wonder and delight. Take a listen now.

Bird Ambience is out on May 28th through Erased Tapes.

Typical Sisters set to release third full-length album Love Beam

03 May 2021

Photo: Alexa Viscius

Living in different parts of the globe, Typical Sisters have cultivated a creative and personal affinity for each other over the last decade. The trio of guitarist Gregory Uhlmann, bassist Clark Sommers and drummer Matt Carroll have announced the release of their third album, Love Beam, set for release on July 9th through Joyful Noise Recordings. The album is described as “a celebration of the nourishment they receive from each other in both collaboration and friendship”, despite the distance that separates them. Love Beam, continues the press release, “presents a kaleidoscope of glitchy acoustic timbres, warbly guitar melodies, and crunchy drum loops merging the worlds of improvised jazz and lo-fi bedroom production.”

Along with the news, Typical Sisters have shared the first single, ‘Well Done’. Take a listen below.

Fly Pan Am share accompanying video for new single ‘Grid / Wall’

30 April 2021

Fly Pan Am are getting ready to unveil Frontera, their new album originally composed as a soundtrack to a contemporary dance piece of the same name. Following the first single ‘Scanner’, the Canadian quartet are enticing us again with the album’s opening track ‘Grid / Wall’, which also opened the dance production. ‘Grid / Wall’ is offered with a video that gives a perfect window into the live multi-media show, with the 10 dancers and Fly Pan Am performing on stage. The video was created by Montréal creative/design duo Huot & Vallentin, and you can watch it below.

Frontera is out on May 21st through Constellation