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Ethan P. Flynn releases new single ‘The Universal Deluge’
Today songwriter, beatmaker and multi-instrumentalist Ethan P. Flynn releases his new single The Universal Deluge.
Accompanied by a pensive new visual directed and shot by Aliyah Otchere which places Ethan at the centre of a vastly desolate and unworldly landscape; reflective of the emotive new single. Ethan says of it’s creation, “The film of me walking was taken just after a sandstorm, I still feel like I have sand in my ears from that day”.
Plunging into the darker side of experimental pop, ‘The Universal Deluge’ once again showcases Flynn’s distinctive multifaceted production methods; effortlessly combining electronic experimentation with stripped-back acoustics, underpinned by Flynn’s idiosyncratic voice.
Last year the Yorkshire-born, London-based musician released his debut album B. Sides & Rarities Vol. 1 but the new single marks a significant shift for Flynn and is the by-product of an intensely fruitful creative few years for him. His unique songwriting craft, ear for production and versatility has already seen him work with a diverse host of familiar names including David Byrne, Vegyn, and Black Country, New Road. He also co-wrote several songs and performed on FKA twigs’ hugely acclaimed album Magdalene. Slowthai, who Flynn has collaborated with and supported on tour, has said of him: “Ethan’s someone who I consider to be as great as Bowie, I’m just waiting for the world to see it… he’s a legend in the making.”
Ibeyi Return With A New Single And Music Video For “Made Of Gold” Featuring Pa Salieu
“Oh you with a spine, who would work your mouth against this Magic of mine
The sky encloses the stars, I enclose Magic
I enclose Magic”
- ‘Spell 31’ taken from The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead
At the beginning of 2021, Afro-Cuban French twins Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Diaz, better known to the world as Ibeyi, headed back into the studio in London to begin work on their third studio album. Feeling a sense of chaos, due to the state of the world, Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi set out to invoke the ancient teachings of their ancestors to remobilize the power of their birth given destiny as Ibeyi. The result of this summoning arrives today via the duo’s new single and music video for Made of Gold featuring Gambian-British rapper Pa Salieu, who stars alongside Ibeyi and the Ebinum brothers, in a powerfully, symbolic visual conceptualized by Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi and directed by Daniel Sannwald.
In the Yoruba religion, Ibeyi is an Orisha represented by a pair of twins. Masters of perception and a personification of true harmony, Ibeyi is one of the most powerful Orishas, a spiritual force of nature believed to enclose magic. Taking inspiration from the The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, when Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Diaz came across a poem from the book titled ‘Spell 31,’ it reawakened in them the divine powers of Ibeyi
Speaking further on the new single, Lisa-Kaindé shares: “The first song we produced in the studio was “Made of Gold.” Whilst we were creating the layers of the backing vocals, we could feel that we were making contact with our ancestors; that what we were recording was calling on the brujas and our ancestors for their ancient knowledge. “Made of Gold” is about connecting to our ancestors’ knowledge, to the truths of the past and the power of the ancient. The line is not broken, nor is it lost. Protected by these spells, our third album will see us conveying our reconnection to that power and channeling that magic into our new music.”
For the music video, Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi drew inspiration from Frida Kahlo’s “The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth (Mexico), Diego, Me, and Senor Xolotl” painting. Encircled by Mother Nature, Ibeyi – just like Kahlo – are seen wrapped in her arms as a symbol of their deep connection to earth and the divine feminine. Starring in the video is Naomi as the queen of thunder, a reference to her Yoruba God Shango, and Lisa-Kaindé as the queen of water, a reference to her Yoruba Goddess Yemaya. Emerging from the sky, to join the sun and the moon that is depicted, rapper Pa Salieu mythically appears declaring, “we are the reincarnation.”
Ibeyi released their critically-acclaimed sophomore album Ash in 2017, which featured appearances from Michelle Obama, Kamasi Washington and Meshell Ndegeocello. The duo’s globally acclaimed, eponymous debut album (2015) earned the twins fans and collaborators in some of the most iconic artists of today including Beyoncé, Alvin Ailey, JR, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Prince, Roy Hargrove, Adele, and Emicida; a result of Ibeyi’s uniquely, captivating blend of Yoruban music with modern jazz, pop, soul and hip-hop. Their music and original compositions have been featured in the films ROMA and How to Stop a Recurring Dream, and in campaigns for Chanel, Nike, and Louis Vuitton. Ibeyi are currently at work on their third album, which is due for release in 2022.
Big Thief Announce New Album 'Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You' Out 11 February 2022/ Listen To Momentous New Single ‘Time Escaping’
Big Thief announce their new album, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You,, out 11th February 2022, and share a new single, Time Escaping.
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You is a sprawling double-LP exploring the deepest elements and possibilities of Big Thief. To truly dig into all that the music of Adrianne Lenker, Max Oleartchik, Buck Meek, and James Krivchenia desired in 2020, the band decided to write and record a rambling account of growth as individuals, musicians, and chosen family over 4 distinct recording sessions. In Upstate New York, Topanga Canyon, The Rocky Mountains, and Tucson, Arizona, Big Thief spent 5 months in creation and came out with 45 completed songs. The most resonant of this material was edited down into the 20 tracks that make up DNWMIBIY, a fluid and adventurous listen. The album was produced by drummer James Krivchenia who initially pitched the recording concept for DNWMIBIY back in late 2019 with the goal of encapsulating the many different aspects of Adrianne’s song writing and the band onto a single record.
In an attempt to ease back into life as Big Thief after a long stretch of Covid-19 related isolation, the band met up for their first session in the woods of upstate New York. They started the process at Sam Evian’s Flying Cloud Recordings, recording on an 8-track tape machine with Evian at the knobs. It took a while for the band to realign and for the first week of working in the studio, nothing felt right. After a few un-inspired takes the band decided to take an ice-cold dip in the creek behind the house before running back to record in wet swimsuits. That cool water blessing stayed with Big Thief through the rest of the summer and many more intuitive, recording rituals followed. It was here that the band procured Certainty and Sparrow.
For the next session in Topanga Canyon, California, the band intended to explore their bombastic desires and lay down some sonic revelry in the experimental soundscape-friendly hands of engineer Shawn Everett. Several of the songs from this session lyrically explore the areas of Lenker’s thought process that she describes as “unabashedly as psychedelic as I naturally think,” including Little Things, which came out of this session. The prepared acoustic guitars and huge stomp beat of today’s Time Escaping create a matching, otherworldly backdrop for the subconscious dream of timeless, infinite mystery. When her puppy Oso ran into the vocal booth during the final take of the song, Adrianne looked down and spoke “It’s Music!” to explain in the best terms possible the reality of what was going on to the confused dog. “It’s Music Oso!”
The third session, high in the Colorado Rockies, was set up to be a more traditional Big Thief recording experience, working with UFOF and Two Hands engineer Dom Monks. Monks’ attentiveness to song energies and reverence for the first take has become a huge part of the magic of Thief’s recent output. One afternoon in the castle-like studio, the band was running through a brand new song Change for the first time. Right when they thought it might be time to do a take, Monks came out of the booth to let them know that he’d captured the practice and it was perfect as it was.
The final session, in hot-as-heaven Tucson, Arizona, took place in the home studio of Scott McMicken. The several months of recording had caught up to Big Thief at this point so, in order to bring in some new energy, they invited long-time friend Mat Davidson of Twain to join. This was the first time that Big Thief had ever brought in a 5th instrumentalist for such a significant contribution. His fiddle, and vocals weave a heavy presence throughout the Tucson tracks. If the album’s main through-line is its free-play, anything-is-possible energy, then this environment was the perfect spot to conclude its creation — filling the messy living room with laughter, letting the fire blaze in the backyard, and ripping spontaneous, extended jams as trains whistled outside.
All 4 of these sessions, in their varied states of fidelity, style, and mood, when viewed together as one album seem to stand for a more honest, zoomed-out picture of lived experience than would be possible on a traditional, 12 song record. This was exactly what the band hoped would be the outcome of this kind of massive experiment. When Max’s mom asked on a phone call what it feels like to be back together with the band playing music for the first time in a year, he described to the best of abilities: “Well it’s like, we’re a band, we talk, we have different dynamics, we do the breaths, and then we go on stage and suddenly it feels like we are now on a dragon. And we can’t really talk because we have to steer this dragon.”
The attempt to capture something deeper, wider, and full of mystery, points to the inherent spirit of Big Thief. Traces of this open-hearted, non-dogmatic faith can be felt through previous albums, but here on Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You lives the strongest testament to its existence.
To support the new release Big Thief will be attempting to steer the dragon in Montreal (Olympia – April 18th) and Toronto (Massey Hall – April 19th).
“One of the things that bonds us together as a band is pure magic. I think we all have the same guide and none of us have ever spoken what it is because we couldn’t name it, but somehow, we are all going for the same thing, and when we hit it… we all know it’s it, but none of us to this day, or maybe ever, will be able to articulate in words what the ‘it’ is. Something about it is magic to me.”
- Adrianne Lenker
