Tracing even more daring and emotional paths in electronic music, Plaid will release their tenth studio album, Polymer, on June 7 via Warp Records. The 13 tracks on the album contain

energetic firecrackers, visceral and brilliant melodic rhythms, and hypnotic textures to

create their album, perhaps the most cohesive and direct to date.

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The innovative duo of Ed Handley and Andy Turner have pushed the boundaries of the electronic music kingdom further under the name Plaid since the end of the trio The Black Dog in the early 1990s.

 

In 2019 Plaid and Aphex Twin, Autechre and Nightmares on Wax are on the Warp label's list of sure values, which celebrates its 30th anniversary. Their adventurous and mischievous approach has made them work with Björk and compare them to Mark Bell, Arca, Haxan Cloak, as well

as more recent releases by Skee Mask and Daniel Avery.

 

They also worked with the London Sinfonietta, the Southbank Gamelan Players, composed for Felix's Machines' robotic sculptures, and composed soundtracks for various events such as the reindeer migration in Northern Europe, or a level of the Little Big Planet 3 platform game. Live, they offer shows for both clubs and concert halls, and have performed at the

Sydney Opera House, Southbank and the Berghain Club in Berlin.

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Polymer is an album that covers a wide range of emotions, influences and inspirations, an album of modern times. Its creation was based on a manifesto of polyphony, pollution and politics;

they cover the themes of the environment, synthesis, survival, mortality and the

(de)connections of humanity.

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Plaid say:

 

"The problems and themes addressed in Polymer seemed perfect for the album, their constant strength, endurance and worrying persistence, the natural against the synthetic, silk and silicone, the enormous effects they have on our lives. »

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The mechanical creaking that opens "Meds Fade" reflects the attenuation of the effects of drugs and the emerging lucidity of the grey corners of reality. With the techno tension of "Maru", you

can feel the ultimate and exhausting effort to reach a goal.

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"Dancers" is a euphoric blessing: an ode to free movement, inspired by the contemplation of meteor showers, the Milky Way in a dark and clear sky, with people dancing in the audience. Snippets of voices give a human dimension, although distorted by machines: "Ops" offers

a chorus without words in a loop with synthetic echoes on D&B rhythms.

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"Drowned Sea" was directly inspired by decades-old plastic waste found on the coast, and readings about the place of microplastics in the food chain. Like plastic particles, Plaid distill sounds via granular synthesizers, reducing the mass without succeeding in destroying it

completely.

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The last title, "Praze", an old word meaning "prairie", refers to the disappearance of wildflower fields in Britain. The timeless melodies remind us with melancholy that, despite the complexities

of life in 2019, hope persists.

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B I Z Z A R R E

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