Samoyed returns on Saturday
The elusive producer is self-releasing a new collection of recordings from his remote Scottish retreat.
At one point it seemed as though we were going to be hearing more from Samoyed. Dundee-based artist Andrew Cook was stirring up some favourable attention with his singles on Astro:Dynamics, Glum and Vase between 2011 and 2013, touching on off-centre house tones and winsome garage variations alongside more ambient, drone-focused output. Prior to that however he had issued the Always From This Point CD-r on his own, one-off Flask label with a whopping 86 copies in known circulation. Nothing has been heard from Flask since then, and new music from Cook hasn’t reached the public for more than two years despite his involvement with the loose-fit Pride Of Gombe collective, but it would seem the intermittent artist has been busy cooking up a new long player which is now ready to greet the world.
Saturday has reportedly come together over the past four years, distilled into eleven tracks composed on “cheap and failing 1980s equipment” and “a heartbreaker of an upright piano”. As the press release would have it, Cook crafted the songs from a hut in the rural North of Scotland. Whether the location is a self-imposed move towards isolation or a simple case of circumstance is not clear, although a certain romanticism has been placed upon the inspiration of the natural surroundings as well as the stylistic reference points of Talk Talk, The Cure and John Hughes soundtracks. Considering those touchstones, Simon Lord (aka Lord Skywave, formerly of Simian) is a logical collaborator, and he moonlights on “Peripheral Vision”.
In a move that directly nods to the bucolic context of the record, opening track “1Q84” comes to light with the birdsong that supposedly woke Cook from his slumber each morning in the warmer months, and you can sample the avian delights for yourself via the SoundCloud player below. Packaging fans should also note that the final copies of the record will come housed in a black and metallic gold woodblock print sleeve designed by Cook himself.
Flask will release Saturday by Samoyed on December 4.
Tracklisting:
1. 1Q84
2. Fawn
3. A Persimmon
4. Angel st. Nunez
5. Peripheral Vision (feat. Simon Lord)
6. Beamer
7. Minnow
8. Wú
9. Whitey on the Moon
10. Dumpling
11. Boo