I recently updated the Shattered Infrastructure EP somewhat dramatically: it’s now a 79 minute album. This is largely because there was a lot of material recorded around this time, and at that point I felt it didn’t quite fit and could maybe become part of a different, larger project; over time, however, I’ve realised that these tracks all exist within a particular timeframe and all have a particular sound, and so belong together. There’s one more recent track in there too, which seemed to close out the album brilliantly, so I chose to include it. It’s actually worked out as a really good album, which pleases me as I was never 100% comfortable with it, probably because I don’t really like EPs very much. There are beats on every track, and most pieces are over the seven minute mark, making it slightly unusual for me, but in some ways it completes a trilogy of quite far-reaching albums, stylistically, which see me exploring a very particular sample-based approach, I suppose my FSOL influence coming through in particular. In all honesty, this album has kind of turned into the epitome of that approach, and I’m really not sure I could actually improve on tracks like ‘Shattered Infrastructure’ and ‘Underwater Arboretum’ even if I tried. I might do a limited run of CDrs at some point in the next couple of months if I feel up to it. I recently put out some hand-made tapes of my second album as The Borderlands, and that was quite fun to do on a whim (I literally decided to do the tapes about 15 minutes before I released the album), and I’ve sold a handful of those, which is nice. The tape’s called Melkur II, partially because it opens with the same sound Melkur ended with, and expands on it, although it takes it in a very different direction, as I’ve included a lot of acoustic instruments recorded to four-track in there, amidst the various dark sound collage elements. I’m planning a third album at the moment, so hopefully that’ll come along in the new year.
Back to Enofa, and those older tracks being thrown in with Shattered Infrastructure makes further sense in terms of development: they were all recorded quite a while ago, and since then I’ve recorded Bone Moor, which is quite different in many ways, and a hint at where the project will probably be going next. I’m quite keen to explore a slightly more close-to-home sound again, a little more like Arboretum and the Enofa version of Melkur. The epic, dense, sound-design heavy approach of the recent few albums has been quite insular in a way, and I’d like to write some stuff that’s more reflective of the world around me again. I suppose I often try more expansive things for a while, only to find myself returning home again. I have one new track recorded, and one reworked version of my parts of an old collaborative track, both of which are sounding great and very different, but on the whole my creative focus has largely been on my FSOL track-by-track blog Fractional Difference, which I’ve been posting to every day lately. The 2008-2009 material holds a particularly special place in my heart, having been somewhat out of touch with listening to the band, but also electronic and instrumental music in general for some time, and the mixture of modern classical and hauntology heard on the releases and mixes from those years pretty much reignited my own interest in electronic music and relaunched Second Thought after many years of neglect. Electric Brain Storms Vol. 4 comes particularly highly recommended as a two hour mix that significantly influenced the direction of Safernoc back in 2009 (part one and two on MixCloud if you fancy a listen).
The future is depending on the impact of the omicron variant of Covid, which has come along just as I’m preparing to move on with my life in exactly the same way as the alpha variant did nearly two years ago. That said, all being well I will be living in Sheffield from some point next year. In one of those bizarre twists, it seems most of the people I’m closest to will be living there, or close by, as of next spring, and as it’s a very beautiful, friendly and laid back place with copious amounts of greenery, it seems like as good a place to move as can be expected at this point. I’d like to get involved in some sort of music scene when I move, but that will depend on numerous things. But it’s certainly something to look forward to. In the much nearer future, Christmas and New Year are on their way, with an opportunity to look back over another year of chaos. I’ll do the usual retrospective blog at some point nearer to the time, no doubt.
In the meantime, I’ve been listening to a Margo Cilker, Pearl Charles, Max Richter, The Joy Formidable, The Cooper Temple Clause, Weyes Blood and way too much FSOL.
I hope everyone is doing well. xxx
enofa 