Bogdan Raczynski announces first new music in 15 years
Former stalwart of Aphex’s Rephlex stable joins Planet Mu crew
Nu-school IDM brain Bogdan Raczynski has announced his latest album, ‘ADDLE’, out via Planet Mu on March 18th.
‘ADDLE’ is Raczynski’s first album of new music in 15 years – his 2019 collection Rave ‘Till You Cry in fact consisted exclusively of unreleased archive material.
Marking a change from the high-octane jungle and braindance for which he is most commonly known, here the Polish-American musician finds a more melodic sound, described by Planet Mu as “ergonomic and decluttered”, whilst also remaining tinged with melancholy. The album is said to be closest in spirit to 2001’s tender ‘myloveilove’, or this year’s ‘BANANS’ EP.
Across the album’s 11 tracks, the listener is intended to feel tenderness, unease, comfort, and a sense of reflection. Raczynski recalls the image of him gazing at twinkling stars, but with his view distorted by the welling up of tears.
Of the record, he spoke of its sense of subdued calm:
“You need to take a breather in the eye of the storm now and then. But the real growth happens in turbulence, when your feelings oscillate in and out of sync. It’s not dry land you’re after. You’re trying to build a new island while on a piddly raft. Beleaguered and weary you lay the foundation with your bare hands while the rain lashes your back; a new place for you and yours to moor yourself to until the next storm hits. ‘ADDLE’ is about that storm, its adjacent periphery, and what you look like, in and out, when you set foot. As space and time push against you, that process of adapting becomes an anchor. Among that state of being addled, out of flow, seemingly untethered, there is beauty,” comments Bogdan.
Raczynski is known for his prior collaborations with Bjork, as well as remixes of Autechre, CLPPNG. and Jonsi from Sigur Ross, and tours with Aphex Twin, with whom he was also a roster mainstay the Rephlex label. In recent years, he has created a ‘pollution’-themed sample pack, and recently collaborated with Polyend on a custom banana-themed tracker.