Barnett + Coloccia album announced by Blackest Ever Black

Two figures from the US noise underground combine for the forthcoming Retrieval LP.

Fresh off releasing one of this year’s finest debut albums in Restless Idylls from Tropic Of Cancer, Blackest Ever Black return with news of a new long player that introduces the wider world to the sounds of US duo Barnett + Coloccia. Take a look into their respective histories and it’s clear Faith Coloccia and Alex Barnett both hold a storied position with contemporary experimental music.

Coloccia is a founding member of the now defunct neo-classical experimentalist group Everlovely Lightningheart, currently makes music as Mamiffer, runs the SIGE label with husband Aaron Turner, and has a hugely impressive list of performance credits in her discography. Barnett is perhaps best known for his work in Oateater, the Chicago trio who have released material on labels such as Hydra Head, Nihilist and Coloccia’s SIGE, though he has built up a strong collection of solo recordings with a series of abstract electronic pieces recorded to tape under the Section banner for Catholic Tapes and the aforementioned Nihilist.

Barnett and Coloccia are well versed at working together, with the former contributing to numerous Mamiffer and Everlovely Lightningheart split releases as part of Oakeater, but their forthcoming release for Blackest Ever Black is the first collaborative project between the pair themselves. Some two thousand miles stand between the two individuals, though the initial recording process for Retrieval took place over three days at Vancouver studio Otic Sound.

Formed of “treated vocals, tape-manipulated acoustic recordings and AM radio sounds” from Coloccia, and “loops, drum sounds and other rhythmic elements” from Barnett’s additional synth instruments, the results of this intense session were subsequently mixed down and edited at Seattle studio AVAST! Blackest Ever Black describe Retrieval as a “grave, deeply introspective work, pastoral in essence but cosmic in scope”; the grumbling concrete textures of album track “Hallway” – available to stream below – fully justify this description.

Blackest Ever Black will release Retrieval by Barnett + Coloccia in November.

Tracklisting:

A1. Harbo
A2. Switch
A3. So, How Much Do You Know About Me?
A4. Hallway
B1. Repeating Pit
B2. Retrieval
B3. Birds Eye