Colin Stetson shares second single, ‘The Six’, from upcoming The love it took to leave you LP

Back in May, sax superhero Colin Stetson announced the release of his new solo album, The love it took to leave you, and enticed us with its magnificent title track. The Canadian-American saxophonist, multireedist, and composer is teasing the upcoming album again with an absolute beast of a new track called ‘The Six’. “One of the first songs I wrote for this record, ‘The Six’ is a vengeful strut”, Stetson comments. “Played on solo bass saxophone, this one’s big and mean with long arms and a toothy grin.”

‘The Six’ is offered with an accompanying video directed by Derrick Belcham and you can watch it now.

The love it took to leave you is out on September 13th through Invada Records and Envision Records.

Colin Stetson teases upcoming solo album with title track, ‘The love it took to leave you’

A sax superhero like no other, Colin Stetson has dazzled us time and again throughout the years with his absolutely staggering and powerful compositions. So we’re ecstatic to know he is gearing up to release a new album, his first solo recording since 2017’s All This I Do For Glory, which was one of Album Picks of the Year then. Entitled The love it took to leave you, the record arrives on September 13th through Invada Records and Envision Records.
The Canadian-American saxophonist, multireedist, and composer recorded the album last year at Montreal’s The Darling Foundry, a nineteenth-century metalworks factory converted into a contemporary art complex, with a giant main room still keeping its raw architecture of brick, concrete and steel. Speaking about recording the album there, Stetson says:

“We were using the same live setup as I normally would to amplify – a full PA in the building’s spaces – so we were really able to move the kind of air that I can move, really saturating the room, hitting the walls hard. And then we further fleshed it out.”

Speaking further about the upcoming album, he adds:

“The essence of it is me. It’s the most personal thing that I do – and can do. There’s an evolution of my body and technical capabilities that keeps on, so every time I make another record, there are things that I could only have played now.”

September is a long way away but Stetson has already shared the magnificent title track as the first single, a track that despite being written some years ago, was always intended as a pillar of an album. ‘The love it took to leave you’, in Stetson’s own words, “is a love letter to self and to solitude and to tall old trees that sway and creak in the wind and rain.” The singles comes with an accompanying video directed by Derrick Belcham. Watch it below.

7K! Records announces new compilation Wind Layers

Next month will see 7K! Records release a new compilation entitled Wind Layers, marking the latest edition in their compilation series Layers. Featuring twenty-one songs by twenty-one artists, this collection “focusses on wind instruments and their influence on the contemporary classical multiverse, with musical creations that delicately balance acoustic expression, electronic refractions and ambient recall”, as the label explains. The compilation includes tracks from celebrated trombone player and composer Peter Zummo, Hamburg pianist, producer and composer Niklas Paschburg, Norwegian maestro Håkon Kornstad, Sardinian sound researcher Eugenio Caria aka Saffronkeira, Hungarian jazz trumpeter and composer Barabás Lőrinc, seminal multi-reedist Doug Wieselman and many other stellar artists.
Wind Layers opens magnificently with ‘Beyond the Break’, an unreleased track written and recorded by sax super-hero Colin Stetson. He commented:

“Originally recorded as part of my last solo record, ‘All This I Do For Glory’, ‘Beyond the Brake’ is a turning of attention back towards where and what was left behind. It is that one last look before the page turns, before the next thought emerges and this one falls away. ‘All This I do for Glory’ was always intended as one side of a coin, and so I thought it fitting to share this piece now, in the time before the flip side comes to be.”

Listen to ‘Beyond the Break’ below.


Wind Layers is out on June 25th through 7K! Records

Mixtape #119


One of the most extraordinary contemporary musicians out there, the staggeringly talented Austrian percussionist and composer Manu Delago got us under his spell a while back. So much so that his two previous beguiling studio albums, Circadian and Parasol Peak, both made it to our Album Picks of the Year. Highly in demand, he has garnered wide acclaim in recent years performing and recording with an impressive list of artists, including Anoushka Shankar, Björk, Poppy Ackroyd, the London Symphony Orchestra, and many others. A pioneer of the handpan, Delago‘s technical ability and creativity knows no bounds. So we’re over the moon to have him curating this month’s mixtape with an utterly sublime selection of tracks.

  1. Daniel Thorne – From Inside, Looking Out [Erased Tapes]
  2. Colin Stetson & Sarah Neufeld – Never Were the Way She Was [Constellation]
  3. Douglas Dare – Wherever You Are [Erased Tapes]
  4. Khushi – From Me [Warner Records]
  5. KÁRYYN – Ever [Mute]
  6. 5K HD – 10/15 [fiveK Records]
  7. S. Carey – Rose Petals [Jagjaguwar]
  8. Sufjan Stevens – Fourth of July [Asthmatic Kitty]
  9. Soap&Skin – Italy [PIAS]
  10. Pablo Nouvelle feat. Norma Jean Martine – We Ain’t Dead Yet [Bakara Music / Armada]
  11. The Cinematic Orchestra – Time & Space [Ninja Tune / Domino]
  12. Nirvana – Where Did You Sleep Last Night [Blue Moon Records]

Le Guess Who?’s Who 2018: STUFF.

There’s just a few days to go before Le Guess Who? takes over Utrecht. With over 150 artists set to perform, how do we make sense of such a monumental line-up? We made a list of the artists we’re most excited to see and asked them for their recommendations.

STUFF.

Official Website

Performing Friday 9th November at De Pastoe Fabriek, curated by Shabaka Hutchings

Belgian instrumental five-piece STUFF. have been purveying their own unique sound, embracing songwriting and improvisation, and blending disparate genres like jazz, hip-hop, funk and electronica into sonically grabbing, dance-oriented tracks. Irresistibly groovy and joyous, the quintet’s second album Old Dreams, New Planets, originally released last year, received a full worldwide reissue this year through Gondwana Records. Raved for bringing a party to the stage every time they play, we just can’t wait to experience it firsthand. And we asked them what other artists they are most looking forward to seeing at Le Guess Who?. Find out below.

RP Boo

Bandcamp

Performing Sunday 11th November at TivoliVredenburg, curated by Moor Mother

“He has some of our favorite footwork beats out there.”

Neneh Cherry

Bandcamp

Performing Saturday 10th November at TivoliVredenburg

“Very curious about her new music/album!”

Colin Stetson

Official Website

Performing Thursday 8th November at Janskerk

“Huge sounds, would love to see him live.”

Photo: Ebru Yildiz

Kelsey Lu

Official Website

Performing Saturday 10th November at TivoliVredenburg

“Very intriguing, free-spirited and sensational.”

Photo: Vincent Haycock

Soichi Terada

Official Website

Performing Saturday 10th November at WAS.

” A very very cool producer. What would it be like live?”

Serpentwithfeet

Bandcamp

Performing Friday 9th November at TivoliVredenburg

“Some of the most remarkable and deep spiritual voices right now.”

Kadri Gopalnath

Performing Sunday 11th November at TivoliVredenburg

“His distinct alto saxophone sounds so wonderful and sweet. His suprisingly modern take on classic Indian carnatic music is a joy for the ear! I could listen to him all night.”

Le Guess Who? will take place 8-11 November. For the full line-up, tickets and more info visit leguesswho.com. And take a look at other artists we’re excited about picking their own Le Guess Who?’s Who.

Le Guess Who?’s Who 2018: Manu Delago

There’s just over a week to go before Le Guess Who? takes over Utrecht. With over 150 artists set to perform, how do we make sense of such a monumental line-up? We made a list of the artists we’re most excited to see and asked them for their recommendations.

MANU DELAGO

Official Website

Anoushka Shankar & Manu Delago with MO Strings
Performing Saturday 10th November at TivoliVredenburg

Photo: Lukas Lorenz

Known as a pioneer of the hang, with a staggering technical ability and boundless creativity, Manu Delago is one of the most interesting contemporary musicians, experimenting and expanding what can be done on the instrument. Parasol Peak is his latest album and film, a giant sonic venture recorded with an ensemble of seven musicians on a mountaineering expedition in the Alps. A highly in demand musician both on stage and in the studio, the percussionist and composer’s gifts were first noticed by Björk, and he has performed and recorded with an impressive list of artists, including Anoushka Shankar, Poppy Ackroyd, the London Symphony Orchestra, The Cinematic Orchestra, Ólafur Arnalds, and many others. Following on from his collaboration with Anoushka Shankar, the pair will bring a special performance to Le Guess Who?, with the Metropole Orkest Strings conducted by Jules Buckley. Needless to say we can’t wait for this performance, and we asked Delago which bands he’s most looking forward to. Find out below.

 

Colin Stetson

Official Website

Performing Thursday 8th November at Janskerk

“Colin is an incredible musician. It’s almost unbelievable that he’s creating the sounds you hear. I particularly love his album with Sarah Neufeld.”

 

Serpentwithfeet

Bandcamp

Performing Friday 9th November at TivoliVredenburg

“I fell in love with his music after I heard the track ‘Four Ethers’. It’s a brilliant rework of the legendary ‘Symphony Fantastique’ by Hector Berlioz. “

 

STUFF.

Official Website

Performing Friday 9th November at De Pastoe Fabriek, curated by Shabaka Hutchings

“We are sharing the same booking agent who made me aware of this brilliant and highly energetic band. Check them out!”

 

Le Guess Who? will take place 8-11 November. For the full line-up, tickets and more info visit leguesswho.com. And take a look at other artists we’re excited about picking their own Le Guess Who?’s Who.