Randall Dunn shares the new song “Mexico City” (via The Quietus) from his debut solo album, Beloved, which is set for release on vinyl and digital formats via figureight on November 9th (pre-orders now live).
This particular track is characterised by dystopian skyline chords, brought to life in this accompanying visualiser (by Lauren Rodriguez and Tyler Coray), explore “Mexico City” below and read on for some insight from Randall about the piece. “Mexico City was the final song that was recorded for the record. Heavily influenced by the mood of the quiet studio in the desert in El Paso, TX. “Mexico City” ended up a meditation on communication, emotion and breathing. It is the musical reclaiming of a defining moment in life and the songs sonic waves are meant to calm.” – Randall Dunn
On Beloved, the musician, producer and engineer renowned for his work with Sunn0))), Earth, Tim Hecker, Six Organs of Admittance, Anna Von Hausswolff (and so much more) shifts his knack for emphasising the human component of music toward mining emotional resonance, and wrangling a new earthly language from the subtle details and textures generated from early digital and analog synthesisers. “I wanted to make something more like prose or a Gerhard Richter painting with sound,” Dunn says of the album. “Being someone that composes with sound, I wanted to find a voice in it that felt personal, that felt human, especially with electronics, something that didn’t feel too mechanical.” Though electronics can often feel rigid and cold, Dunn sought to find the poetry in their oscillations and a heartbeat in a rhythm outside the grid. “It’s the first time a language hit me and it felt like it was mine,” Dunn says in summation.
Across Dunn’s career as an engineer and producer he has also proven to be a valuable studio asset as a collaborator. He’s lent his arrangement ideas to SunnO))) on Monoliths and Dimensions and Earth on The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull and gone beyond producing to provide instrumentation for Six Organs of Admittance, Anna von Hausswolf, Tim Hecker, and longtime colleague Stephen O’Malley. All of which led to a pivotal invitation to engineer and produce Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson’s original score for the stylised horror film Mandy. During the project, Jóhannsson encouraged Dunn to explore his synth-driven sound designs. Jóhannsson’s unexpected passing in early 2018 also added to what Dunn refers to as “powerful moment of change.” The gentle encouragement of Eyvind Kang and Jóhann Jóhannsson, and the affirming creative contributions across the album by past collaborators like Timm Mason, Frank Fisher (Algiers), and Zola Jesus were all crucial to the birth of Beloved.
Watch the stunning video for the album track “Something About That Night” directed by Mu Tunc.
Pre-Order Link: https://lnk.to/RandallDunnBeloved