London band Landshapes are releasing their third album Contact in November through Bella Union. Following lead single “The Ring”, today they share the album’s opening track “Rosemary”, saying:
“In ‘Rosemary’ we were exploring the herb and its ability to aid and stimulate memory, which led to the idea of connecting with ancient lineage, whether that be human ancestors or even trees. The idea of placing ourselves within a deep time trajectory, rather than seeing ourselves as special beings, separate from the world around us. The song starts with a feeling in the body, which I suppose is the holding place of so much ancestral DNA.”
Where “The Ring” was peppy and catchy number, Landshapes go in the complete opposite direction for “Rosemary”. Here, the synths are stretched and gloopy, percussion is minimal but pointed, and guitar crackles and burns on top of their sonic morass. Luisa Gerstein and Heloise Tunstall-Behrens’ dual vocals are distorted and treated, extending infinitely and textured in such a way that it feels like voices of thousands are coming bubbling out together. It all suits the themes of the song perfectly, making us feel we’re in a hallucinatory place outside of time, where we can float in warm sonic lava forever, feeling connected to a much larger whole. Overall, on “Rosemary”, Landshapes make a compelling case for the herb being the secret psychedelic we’ve all got in our spice rack.
The video for “Rosemary” continues this voyage into Landshapes’ warped world with shifitng colours and layers animating their sludge-rock sound.
Landshapes’ new album Contact comes out through Bella Union on November 20 pre-order here or on their Bandcamp. You can follow the band on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
It’s also worth mentioning that playing bass in Landshapes is the multi-talented Heloise Tunstall-Behrens, whom we spoke to last week about her new choral-sound project The Swarm.
