In the six years since he put out Wysing Forest, British producer Luke Abbott has been keeping extremely busy with film scores and other projects including Szun Waves and Earlham Mystics, which have all been fantastic, but his fans have been yearning for him to return to his idiosyncratic solo productions under his own name. Well, today brings the good news that he will be releasing an album called Translate on October 30 through Border Community.
Across a number of months, Abbott would take days away from his home studio in Norwich to go to London and create Translate, working at James Holden’s Sacred Walls. Here, they set up an immersive recording environment where Abbott could completely lose himself in creation, while Holden was on hand as “engineer and spiritual guide.” The resulting album is sure to be a complex and engrossing one, as evidenced by the opening track “Kagen Sound”, which is released today. Abbott says of the new song:
“Kagen Sound is one of the simpler tracks on the record, it’s based around the Korg Monopoly, which is one of my favourite sounding synths. The track is named after an American puzzle box maker, he makes the most incredibly intricate wooden puzzle boxes. I’ve been interested in puzzle boxes since I saw Hellraiser when I was about 11 years old, maybe I shouldn’t have seen that film so young. To me the track feels like a huge opening in the earth, like a cosmic doorway, which is why it’s the opening track on the album.”
The various reference points Abbott mentions in the above quote are all in evidence on “Kagen Sound”, as it floats like a mystical orb that lures you in with driving bass synths and hissing percussion. Once up close and focused, your ears will be marvelled as they are teased by the various audio pieces, which keep appearing and coalescing into this sparkling whole. Once they’re all in their right places, “Kagen Sound” does indeed feel like it’s opening some kind of portal into a world of sonic possibility. It’s just a shame we now have to wait a while to see what’s inside…
Luke Abbott’s new album Translate is coming out on October 30 through Border Community. You can follow him on Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
