Published
Wed, Feb 24, 2016, 15:35
- Out in April, it's his first solo record since 2014.
Brian Eno's new album, The Ship, will land on Warp Records on April 29th.
The two-part album originally grew out of Eno's experiments with three-dimensional recording techniques. It's narrative is loosely inspired by historical events of the early 20th century, as well as ideas and images of water, emptiness and large open expanses.
"One of the starting points was my fascination with the First World War, that extraordinary trans-cultural madness that arose out of a clash of hubris between empires," says Eno. "It followed immediately after the sinking of the Titanic, which to me is its analogue. The Titanic was the Unsinkable Ship, the apex of human technical power, set to be Man's greatest triumph over nature."
The Ship opens with a 21-minute title track built around Eno singing a sea chant. "I wanted to make a record of songs that didn't rely on the normal underpinnings of rhythmic structure and chord progressions," he continues, "but which allowed voices to exist in their own space and time, like events in a landscape." The second track takes place across three movements, incorporating algorithmically-generated poetry, spoken word and a cover of The Velvet Underground's "I'm Set Free."
Tracklist
01. The Ship
02. Fickle Sun
(i) Fickle Sun
(ii) The Hour Is Thin
(iii) I’m Set Free
Warp Records will release The Ship on April 29th, 2016.