ERLAND COOPER has shared an excerpt from SEACHANGE – the ambient companion to his acclaimed album SULE SKERRY – released earlier in October. Listen to an excerpt from TIDE III accompanied by recycled visual cut ups from collaborator Alex Kozobolis shot in Orkney.
accompanied by recycled visual cut ups from collaborator Alex Kozobolis shot in Orkney.
Seachange was created in collaboration with producer, artist and guitarist Leo Abrahams, who guests on Sule Skerry and, as with MURMURATION (the collaboration with William Doyle that accompanied Erland’s debut solo release SOLAN GOOSE – both albums featuring in Quietus’ Best of 2018) Seachange is a continuous ambient work, split over three movements, or Tides.
Seachange is a seamless sonic poem, evoking the place and memory of the record that came before it. As Erland explains:
“It’s just a different perspective, or way of seeing. I imagine this music being created by placing recyclable source material into the North Sea and watching it become torn, pulled apart, diluted, stretched, weathered and then reassembled in an Orkney Geo* It creates a different form, with dissolved and overlapping melodies that
eventually disappear into granules like plankton. This record is an upcycling of sounds, themes and layers into a new collaborative work.”
*an inlet, gully or narrow and deep cleft in the face of a cliff formed by the sea in Orkney and Shetland
Artwork for Seachange was kindly donated by Mr Norman Ackroyd (CBE)
Following live shows, which included sold out London Barbican and Edinburgh performances, Erland embarks on his first UK tour this autumn on dates that will see him joined by his multi-instrumental ensemble. The tour includes a unique appearance at Glasgow Mackintosh Queen’s Cross Church, a stunning building designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in the late 1890s.
NOVEMBER
Sun 17 LANCASTER Central Library
Wed 20 MANCHESTER Band on The Wall
Thu 21 BRISTOL Arnolfini (SOLD OUT)
Fri 22 BRIGHTON Unitarian Church (SOLD OUT)
Sun 24 LEEDS Brudenell Social Club
Sat 30 GLASGOW Mackintosh Queen’s Cross Church
DECEMBER
Mon 02 GATESHEAD Sage 2
Tickets available at: www.erlandcooper.com/live
Erland also recently announced a new collaboration, this time for the Young Vic production of PORTIA COUGHLAN due to run from 16 September – 31 October 2020. Invited by the director Carolyn Byrne, he will compose the score to Marina Car’s play, with Academy Award nominee Ruth Negga making her Young Vic debut in the title role. In addition, Erland will explore the natural world of his homeland through an evocative mix of music, words and imagery in AN ORKNEY TRIPTYCH at London Barbican on Saturday 13 June 2020.
Sule Skerry – which includes the BBC 6Music playlisted track FIRST OF THE TIDE – is the second album in a triptych shaped by his childhood home, the Orkney Islands and, in particular, by the air, the sea and the land.
Haar video:
First of The Tide video:
RECENT PRAISE:
“wonderfully nuanced songwriting matched to lung-bursting string arrangements …” CLASH
“a meditative, transportive listening experience; an ethereal swoon which imagines Sigur Ros remixed by Bibio. It makes you wonder where Cooper will take you next …” Q MAGAZINE
“considered, crafted and explorative of details that only someone with a true affinity can delve into; if Cooper’s intent was to create an insular kind of magic, he does so …” LOUD AND QUIET
“nature’s songwriter …” THE GUARDIAN
ERLAND COOPER:
Hailing from the archipelago of Orkney in Scotland, Erland Cooper explores the natural world of birds, landscape and place, manifesting in an immersive collection of music, words and imagery. Originally part of acclaimed bands THE MAGNETIC NORTH and ERLAND & THE CARNIVAL, he has a diverse musical background. His first solo album, Solan Goose, was an ode to escapism, written to ease personal anxiety working in a busy city through soothing piano, electronics, strings and wild bird calls. His celebrated second record, Sule Skerry, turned his attention to the North Sea, and Seachange completes Part III of a trilogy of albums about his childhood home of Orkney. Erland also works across multi-arts projects including gallery, film and installations, most recently scoring Nest, a giant, kinetic light and sound installation opening London’s first borough of culture.
WEBSITE https://www.erlandcooper.com/
FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/erlandcooper/
INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/erlandcooper/
TWITTER https://twitter.com/erlandcooper
