Release Notes
Label: Mercury KX
Release: Dark Angels
Date: September 10, 2020
Visuals By: Jessica In
Today I am excited to premiere not one, but two videos in one shot. But to be completely honest, I am more excited about the actual collaboration between my two favorite artists on their brand new three-track EP, which comes out today on Mercury KX. And, besides the hair-raising culmination of sonics from Luke Howard and Tilman Robinson, we’ve got a third dimension of sight, with a visual mind candy courtesy of Jessica In, who provided the videos for all three pieces on the release. So technically, you can call this a collaboration between the three of them. For the two pieces premiering today, “Dark Angels” and “Dark Ascending”, Howard worked with the choir vocals from his 2019 release The Sand That Ate The Sea and processed them with various effects and dynamics. Meanwhile, Robinson has added his signature sharpened edge of bass and distortion that visibly shatters my monitor drivers. Together, the tension building cinematic pieces ascend through a textural aural palette, that is only enhanced by the minimalist, colorful, and fluid motion of the striking visuals. I think you’ll agree…
The visuals for the Dark Angels EP are a series of studies in flowing, abstracted landscapes. Based on a set of topographic fields, the visuals gradually shift in and out of formation, layered to build slowly with the ambient soundscape. The resulting forms are suggestive of events that appear in nature, evoking the movement of fireflies, glacier currents, and forest fires.
— Jessica In
The EP Dark Angels explores the shadow and darkness that exists in all of us and our relationships. I took the choir tracks from The Sand That Ate The Sea (sung by Shards) and treated them with a variety of electronic processing, to form the starting point for the tracks ‘Dark Angels’ and ‘Dark Ascending’. The other track, ‘Intermittent Reinforcement’ – named after a pattern in behavioural psychology – is derived from a chamber organ piece from the same record. So, in some sense, this is a remix record, with the exception that the pieces are not intended to be recognisable, and that the remixing was done by the artist.
— Luke Howard
Check out this beautiful EP directly from the label or on all of your favorite streaming platforms. I’d like to conclude this writeup by requesting a full-length from Tilman and Luke! I’d definitely be up for that in the near future! Well done, my friends!
