Five years after his critically acclaimed debut Drone Logic, London-based producer Daniel Avery has announced the release of his highly anticipated second album Song For Alpha, set for release on 6th April 2018

In the years since his debut, Avery has helmed a DJ-Kicks mix CD, resided over a monthly radio show for NTS Live, curated an extensive remix compilation and collaborated on a series of side-projects including a recent release with Nine Inch Nails synth specialist Alessandro Cortini; he has toured relentlessly, cementing a reputation as one of the defining techno DJs of the decade. He has also worked studiously on what he wanted to say next as a producer.

Song For Alpha is Avery’s exploration of the space in which home listening and club music intersect, in no small part inspired by his transient life spent between nightclubs, flights, the passenger seats of cars and hotel rooms. He confirms, “Drone Logic’s spiritual home was the dancefloor. This record’s is definitely the road. Those late nights and hazy mornings, finding inspiration beyond the fog.”

With newfound energy and time to develop, Avery’s sonic vocabulary has expanded. Here, the booming sound of the big room is brilliantly countered by the music of the small hours. Where celestial ambient lullabies ‘First Light’ and ‘Days From Now’ sit perfectly next to the mesmeric techno assault of ‘Diminuendo’ and ‘Sensation’; where both ‘Projector’ and ‘Clear’ evoke early rave records, only ones engulfed by waves of beautiful cyclonic distortion. Much like his recent excursions with Cortini, Song For Alpha sees Avery take his signature psychedelic-electronic sound to new dimensions, a sound that plays to the head as much as the body.

Revered producer and composer Daniel Avery returns with a new album and live show, his most ambitious works to date. Channelling every corner of his sound, Tremor is a bold and transportive body of work through euphoric shoegaze, submerged techno, ambient soundscape and industrial bliss. It remains unmistakably Avery, yet dramatically evolved.

With the album Avery has welcomed an inspiring cast of collaborators, including the likes of Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Walter Schreifels (Quicksand / Rival Schools), bdrmm, Julie Dawson (NewDad), yeule, Ellie, Art School Girlfriend, yunè pinku, and Cecile Believe. Each artist leaves their indelible mark, yet the record’s true power lies in the communal spirit at its core.

“This is a living and breathing collective,” says Avery. “Since the earliest recordings, Tremor felt like a studio in the sky, a space in time through which we could all pass as artists” he reflects. “It’s the welcoming spirit of acid house with the doors flung open wider still to allow in every influence from my musical journey: the warmth of distortion, the stillness inside intensity, the transcendental beauty of noise... They have always been there in my music but now it feels like those ideas are being transmitted in Technicolor. This is a record for the post-rave comedown kids, the guitar heads and anyone else who wants to come along for the ride. Everyone is welcome.”

Tremor will be released by Avery’s new home of Domino on 31st October.

Jennifer Loveless

Performers