Luke Abbott returns with Wysing Forest
The Border Community producer will release his second album on the label in June.
First emerging on the defunct Output label back in 2006, modular synth explorer Luke Abbott has since become a firm member of James Holden’s Border Community stable. Released back in 2010 on the label, his widely acclaimed debut album Holkham Drones combined kosmische influences with the kind of trance-inducing techno as his labelmates into a distinctly organic whole. Although recent years have seen Abbott release two EPs for Gold Panda’s Notown label, details have been announced regarding Abbott’s return to Border Community, on which he will release his second album, Wysing Forest. The album is named after Wysing Arts Centre in Cambridgeshire where Abbott recorded the album while spending six weeks as a musician in residence, and is mostly made up of recordings made live using his modular synthesiser, with several first takes and musical sketches being incorporated into the end product.
According to the press release, the record is influenced by the jazz of Don Cherry and John Coltrane, as well as the music of minimalist composer Terry Riley, and is marked out by a spaciousness brought about by the location of Wysing. “It was recorded in the winter, it was very cold and the place is quite isolated. It’s in the middle of the countryside, there is no mobile phone reception there and limited internet access,” Abbott says of his time there. “While I was staying there, there were also six other artists in residence, so there were people around some of the time, but there was still a massive sense of distance, like we were far away from the world.” Those wishing to preview the album’s sound can listen to the 12-minute “Amphis” below to whet their appetites.
Border Community will release Wysing Forest by Luke Abbott on vinyl, CD and digital formats on June 23.
Tracklisting:
1. Two Degrees
2. Amphis
3. Unfurling
4. Free Migration
5. Highrise
6. Tree Spirit
7. The Balance of Power
8. Snippet
9. Amphis (reprise)