Belfast-born, London-based duo Bicep (Matt McBriar and Andy Ferguson) release their hotly anticipated second album, “Isles”, on 22 January 2021 via Ninja Tune.
Two years in the making, “Isles” expands on the artful energy of their 2018 debut “Bicep”, while digging deeper into the sounds, experiences and emotions that have influenced their lives and work, from early days in Belfast to their move to London a decade ago. “We have strong mixed emotions, connected to growing up on an island” they say, “wanting to leave, wanting to return”. “Isles” is, in part, a meditation on these contradictions, the struggle between the expansive and the introspective, isolation and euphoria.
The breadth of music they’ve been exposed to in London during this time informs “Isles’” massive sonic palette; both cite the joy of discovering Hindi vocals overheard from distant rooftops, snatches of Bulgarian choirs drifting from passing cars, hitting Shazam in a kebab house in the vain hopes of identifying a Turkish pop song. But time away from home has also made the pair more reflective about the move between islands which led them here.
12” gatefold sleeve on Curious Matter, printed colour and Pantone, three cover variations (selected at random). 2 x 140g 12” black vinyl housed in purple paper inner sleeves. Download code included.
a1. Atlas a2. Cazenove a3. Apricots b1. Saku (feat Clara La San) b2. Lido b3. X (feat Clara La San) c1. Rever (feat Julia Kent) c2. Sundial d1. Fir d2. Hawk (feat Machina)
a1. Noctuary a2. Flutter a3. D Song b1. Change Down b2. Wayward Bob c3. Pick Up c1. Something (Longer) For Windy c2. Nothing Owed c3. Light Pattern d1. Pick Up (Four Tet Remix) d2. Behind The Light
Double Red Vinyl housed in a rigid gatefold sleeve.
New 10th Anniversary cover image and liner notes by Simon Green.
With offset printed paper Inners and 12” Art Card print of the original Black Sands cover image. Includes download code.
a1. Prelude a2. Kiara a3. Kong a4. Eyesdown (feat. Andreya Triana) b1. El Toro b2. We Could Forever b3. 1009 c1. All in Forms c2. The Keeper (feat. Andreya Triana) c3. Stay the Same (feat. Andreya Triana) d1. Animals d2. Black Sands
Double Cool Grey Vinyl housed in a rigid gatefold sleeve.
New 10th Anniversary cover image and liner notes by Simon Green.
With offset printed paper Inners, 12” Art Card print of the original Black Sands cover image and two additional exclusive Art Card prints.
a1. Prelude a2. Kiara a3. Kong a4. Eyesdown (feat. Andreya Triana) b1. El Toro b2. We Could Forever b3. 1009 c1. All in Forms c2. The Keeper (feat. Andreya Triana) c3. Stay the Same (feat. Andreya Triana) d1. Animals d2. Black Sands
The best musical mavericks never sit still for long. They mutate and morph into new shapes, refusing to be boxed in. Floating Points has so many guises that it’s not easy to pin him down. There’s the composer whose 2015 debut album Elaenia was met with rave reviews – including being named Pitchfork’s ‘Best New Music’ and Resident Advisor’s ‘Album of the Year’ – and took him from dancefloors to festival stages worldwide. The curator whose record labels have brought soulful new sounds into the club, and, on his esteemed imprint Melodies International, reinstated old ones. The classicist, the disco guy that makes machine music, the digger always searching for untapped gems to re-release. And then there’s the DJ whose liberal approach to genre saw him once drop a 20-minute instrumental by spiritual saxophonist Pharoah Sanders in Berghain.
Crush was made during an intense five-week period, inspired by the invigorating improvisation of his shows supporting The xx in 2017. He had just finished touring with his own live ensemble, culminating in a Coachella appearance, when he suddenly became a one-man band, just him and his trusty Buchla opening up for half an hour every night. He thought what he’d come out with would "be really melodic and slow- building" to suit the mood of the headliners, but what he ended up playing was "some of the most obtuse and aggressive music I've ever made, in front of 20,000 people every night," he says. "It was liberating."
“Karma & Desire” includes guest collaborations from Sampha, Zsela and Aura T-09 and more. It’s “a romantic tragedy set between the heavens and the underworld” says Actress (Darren J. Cunningham) “the same sort of things that I like to talk about – love, death, technology, the questioning of one's being”. The presence of human voices take the questing artist into new territory.
a1. Actress - Fire & Light
a2. Actress - Angels Pharmacy (feat Zsela)
a3. Actress - Remembrance (feat Zsela)
a4. Actress - Reverend
b1. Actress - Leaves Against The Sky
b2. Actress - Save
b3. Actress - VVY (feat Sampha)
b4. Actress - XRAY
b5. Actress - Gliding Squares
c1. Actress - Many Seas, Many Rivers (feat Sampha)
c2. Actress - Loveless (feat Aura T-09)
c3. Actress - Public Life (feat Vanessa Benelli Mosell)
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