Squarepusher premieres new video for “Detroit People Mover” taken from the Lamental EP, released on Friday April 10
VIDEO – “Detroit People Mover” –
YouTube
Following the release of his album Be Up A Hello at the end of January, and the follow up Lamental EP last Friday, Squarepusher presents a poignant and eerie portrait of the city in his video for “Detroit People Mover,” the cinematic synth odyssey that is present at the heart of both recent releases.
There had long been an intention to shoot a video for this piece on the Detroit People Moveritself, the neglected mass transit system in the US city from which the track takes its name. As production got under way, it was apparent that the typically empty train has a peculiar resonance with the desolation settling on urban areas across the world. Director Jacob Hurwitz-Goodman explores our new-found isolation on a driver-less journey through the city, contrasting it with human contact in images from Detroit’s history produced by an correspondingly autonomous printer.
This bleak urban portrait serves as a drastic contrast to Squarepusher’s last visual representation for “Terminal Slam,” which with its bustling street scenes was shot just three months before, at the busiest crossing in the world in Shibuya. These varied aesthetics not only reflect the sudden change of conditions but two very different sound worlds that co-exist within this project. The title of Lamental itself refers to each track being a form of lament.
Tom Jenkinson (Squarepusher) says “I like the way both of these videos articulate salient points about our urban environments – in “Terminal Slam” about the prevalence of advertising and possibilities for its subversion, and here regarding our zombie cities that despite the lack of everyday human contact continue marching on. The track itself is part of a series begun in 1993 inspired by the music of Detroit.”
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES:
November
Mon 23 U Street Washington DC
Tues 24 Union Transfer Philadelphia
Fri 27 Brooklyn Steel New York
Sat 28 Sinclair Boston
Sun 29 SAT Montreal
Mon 30 Danforth Toronto
December
Wed 2 Majestic Theatre Detroit
Thu 3 Metro Chicago
Sun 6 Gothic Theatre Denver
Tue 8 Neumos Seattle
Wed 9 Wonder Ballroom Portland
Thu 10 Regency San Francisco
Sat 12 1720 Los Angeles
Critical praise for Be Up A Hello:
“His best in years” The Wire
“nervy and dense, speedy and ominous, twitchy and unstable, with a distant, dissonant melody line besieged by a percussive overload until a final staticky swerve.” –New York Times
“A perpetual experimentalist, Jenkinson consistently delivers electronic albums jam-packed with ideas and vibrant tone color, of which Be Up a Hello slots in as yet another example of the creative colossus that is Squarepusher. This record feels especially important, though, because it asserts that what some would consider an outmoded sound palette can still be mined for fresh ideas, that IDM in its golden-age variety has yet to reach its zenith.” Pop Matters 8/10
“The frenetic, joyful bleeps are undoubtedly the sound of android’s dreams” The Guardian Guide
“Right back to the most surging, joyous rave rushes of his landmark releases. A wobbly-eyed, reach-for-the-lazers, wildly grinning cascade of terrifyingly disciplined noise and rhythm” Mixmag8/10
“This feels like a real milestone for Jenkinson, and for a career as fruitful as his, that’s no small feat” Clash 8/10
“An impressively wide ranging fusion of twisted synth melodies, knotty beats and sense-rupturing speed-jazz” Uncut 8/10
“25 years into his career, Jenkinson has lost none of his mischievousness” Crack 8/10
“Perky pop melodicism, acid squiggles, ball-bearings-down-a-drainpipe breakbeats and moody Vangelis synths.The sinister undertone that lurks beneath Jenkinson’s esoteric soundscapes make them so compelling” Q 4/5
“A fantastic addition to an already stellar canon of work” Inverted Audio
“It’s fast, unpredictable, and most importantly, fun. Only a handful of artists can make music this complex feel like such a good time” Resident Advisor
“Driving hyperspeed beats, erratic synth layers, completely unpredictable progression and a sprinkling of eardrum-rumbling thuds that make you feel like you’re in a warzone.” The Quietus
“Squarepusher has topped his career with a work that looks backwards technologically, yet presses forward with fresh dynamism” Electronic Sound
“It’s terroir is ravey hyper-beats and face melting breaks, while moments of Vangelis-meets-Satie respite are executed with subtlety and poignancy” Mojo
“Loads of fun, and feels as if made by someone who still has the future firmly in his sights” Long Live Vinyl
“Coupling signature breakbeats with turbo-charged acid” FACT
“A fun, hair-raising ride” DJ
Squarepusher
Lamental EP
(WARP)
Street Date: April 10, 2020
[click here to buy]
Track List:
12”
A1. ‘The Paris Track’ – first release on all formats
A2. ‘Detroit People Mover’
B1. ‘MIDI Sans Frontières (Avec Batterie’) – first release on all formats
B2. ‘MIDI Sans Frontières’ – first vinyl release
Digital
1. The Paris Track
2. Detroit People Mover
3. Les Mains Dansent
4. Midi Sans Frontieres (Avec Batterie)
5. Midi Sans Frontieres
SQUAREPUSHER LINKS: