While perhaps still best recognised as the frontperson of Death in Vegas, London-based artist Richard Fearless has also made a name for himself in the underground electronic world. Having released a string of boundary-stretching singles and remixes over the last handful of years, his work culminated in the album Deep Rave Memory in 2019. Today, he reveals plans for a follow-up called Future Rave Memory, which will arrive on November 5 (digitally) and December 17 (physically).
Future Rave Memory was written in tandem with its predecessor, entirely conceived and constructed in Fearless’ Metal Box Studio on London’s Thames River. He introduces us to the atmosphere and mindset of the record by saying:
“Metal Box, my studio, is located where the River Lea converges with the Thames, near East India Docks; it’s a Ballardian landscape, which constantly inspires. ‘Tamas’, the opening song, is a Sanskrit word that means darkness, which some believe is the origin of the name Thames.
“On my way to the studio I pass some of the most deprived areas of London, many of which sit under the gaze of the financial center of Canary Wharf. I cycle under shadows cast by colossal data storage buildings that feed the corporate machine of the Docklands. I think of the East India Company and the events their activities set in motion. When the wind is right, I smell the Tate & Lyle Factory downstream and contemplate the trans-Atlantic slave trade that fed this country’s love of those white crystals. On the other side of the Thames is the Millennium Dome, hovering mostly idle apart from the billboards flashing ads in unison after dark.
“I hear the constant screeching of metal-on-metal from the adjacent steel factory, and the drone of flights to and from City Airport. I sit among their ambience, feeling the pulse of the city, with the dark water a constant presence. The energy from this junction where two tidal rivers collide is powerful; it seems to heal. I think of the German word ‘Strom’, which means the flow of electricity, the flow of water.”
With all that in mind, you are prepared to enter “Our Acid House”, the 15-minute single that has been offered up as the first taste of Future Rave Memory. There’s no point in me trying to describe it, as Fearless has already painted a vivid psycho-geographical world for you to imagine as you traverse the subtle and surprising track.
Listen to “Our Acid House” below or find it on streaming platforms.
Richard Fearless’ Future Rave Memory arrives November 5 (digitally) and December 17 (physically) – pre-order. You can find him on Facebook and Twitter.
