We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, we love Laurence Pike. And we are absolutely thrilled with his third solo album, Prophecy, arriving next week. The incredibly inventive percussionist and composer recorded the album as a reaction to the catastrophic wild fires in his native Australia.
Following the first single ‘Nero’, Pike is enticing us again with a new track called ‘Death of Science’, described as “an abstract rumination on politics trying to deny the nature of the universe, in which broken voices and muted drums attempt to spin around the certainty of the physical world.” Take a listen below and grab Prophecy when it’s out on July 24th through The Leaf Label.
Multi-instrumentalist and composer Julie Carpenter has worked and recorded with various artists including Brian Jonestown Massacre, Eels and The Autumns. Less Bells, her ambient orchestral project, was ignited by her move from LA to Joshua Tree, and in 2018 she released her debut album Solifuge. Two years on, Carpenter presents her somophore album entitled Mourning Jewelry. Set for release on August 21st through Kranky, Mourning Jewelry circles around the feelings of loss and grief and the resulting change. As the press release describes, the album “stir[s] ornamental laments born from a need to “create beauty out of grief.” Weaving together strings, synthesisers, and choirs, the pieces on Mourning Jewelry “ascend and descend in grand, glimmering arcs,” delivering an emotive and haunting palette of beautiful and delicate orchestral textures.
Lead single ‘Fiery Wings’ is now available to stream and it serves as a sublime introduction to the album. Take a listen now.
Following 2018’s Persona, Rival Consoles is releasing a new full-length album later this month. Entitled Articulation, the album is named after Gyorgy Ligeti’s classic electronic composition Artikulation and its accompanying non-traditional graphic score. Unlike previous albums, Ryan Lee West, the London musician and producer behind Rival Consoles, encompassed the creative conception of the album through a visual way of thinking. West “drew structures, shapes and patterns by hand to try and find new ways of thinking about music”, explains the press release, “giving himself a way to problem-solve away from the computer.”
After sharing the title track, Rival Consoles has offered another preview of the album in the form of ‘Vibrations on a String’. He had this to say about it:
“’Vibrations on a String’ was one of the earliest pieces I made for the record. The title is a direct reference to the behaviour of the main synth: I was trying to mimic playing a guitar string both softly and aggressively. I think a part of me is often trying to mimic the physical world with synths. There is something mindful about observing things and making sense of them, and once you try to recreate something in a different medium it feels like there are new opportunities to explore.”
Listen to ‘Vibrations on a String’ below and grab Articulation when it’s out on July 31st through Erased Tapes.
Efterklang’s singer Casper Clausen and Swedish artist Joel Wästberg aka sir Was have shared a collaborative single entitled ‘Flyder’. This isn’t the first time the two artists team up, having co-written ‘Lyset’, the title track of Efterklang´s latest EP. The pair first met at Berlin’s PEOPLE festival a couple of years ago. In Casper own words, “it was a kinda love at first sight”. He added:
“Joel and I clicked and during that week of creation, we developed a friendship which led to many more hangs and recordings over the past couple of years. Joel joined the Efterklang recordings of our most recent album “Altid Sammen” last year and we also wrote the Efterklang song “Lyset” together in Joel’ studio in Gothenburg. I love writing music with Joel, his ability to frame a moment and his ear for melody, texture and groove is a rare treat to be around. We supplement each other well and we have a lot of fun making music together.”
Translating as ‘Floating’, and sung in Danish, ‘Flyder’, as Casper described, “is a song to the stream that carries our boat, a celebration and a fear for the metaphysical place where we decide to stay and grow our roots, our home on a floating dock, a moving hub and a made-up flower of all the things we give importance. When you manage to let go on your own power of control, when you are floating and staying at the same time.”
Wrap your ears around the delightful ‘Flyder’ now.
Wu Hen, the much anticipated new album from Kamaal Williams aka Henry Wu arrives later this month. The South London’s multi-talented musician had already shared the exhilarating ‘One More Time’, and ahead of the release on July 24th through Black Focus, he is enticing us again with new single ‘Hold On’, featuring Lauren Faith on guest vocals. Take a listen below.
JOBS, the Brooklyn based experimental rock ensemble of guitarist/vocalist Dave Scanlon, drummer Max Jaffe, violist Jessica Pavone, and Lundberg, have a new album on the way entitled endless birthdays. Marking their third album release, endless birthdays features guest appearances from John Dieterich (Deerhoof), Matt Mehlan (Skeletons), Cyrus Pireh (Skeletons), and Steven Lugerner.
Ahead of the album’s release on August 7th through Ramp Local, the quartet have shared a video for opening track ‘A Toast’, directed by and starring Nina Vroeman. It follows the previously released single ‘Brian’, also offered with an accompanying video directed by Max Jaffe. Take a look at both below.
