The Avalanches shared two new songs from their forthcoming album along with a pair of stunning visualizers. “Wherever You Go” feat. Jamie XX, Neneh Cherry and CLYPSO premiered in the U.K. earlier today on the BBC 6 Music’s breakfast show.
The Avalanches, with co-production from acclaimed UK musician/producer Jamie XX, have created an epic track that begins with greetings from planet Earth – sampled from The Voyager Golden Record, a gold-plated copper disk launched into space by Voyager 1 and 2 in 1977 – and erupts in a frenzy. Vocals from the iconic Neneh Cherry and Sydney-based troptronica producer CLYPSO capture this moment in time, when love and music still offer hope in the face of “the whole damn world incinerating.” Mick Jones (Big Audio Dynamite, The Clash) plays piano on the track.
“Reflecting Light” feat. Sananda Maitreya and Vashti Bunyan examines the sounds that haunt our lives and reverberate through space. Sananda Maritreya’s deeply soulful vocals evoke transformation amid a cosmic audio swirl that incorporates a sample of “Glow Worms,” which originally appeared on influential English singer-songwriter Vashti Bunyan’s 1970 debut album, Just Another Diamond Day.
The Avalanches unveiled their first new music since 2016’s Wildflower – the track “We Will Always Love You” feat. Blood Orange, which was praised as “a plush compendium of longing” by The New York Times. “Running Red Lights” feat. Rivers Cuomo & Pink Siifu followed in March, earning attention from Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, NME, Billboard and The FADER, among others. The accompanying video was created in loving memory of David Berman, and stars dancer/choreographer Erik Cavanaugh with a cameo by Hollywood billboard queen Angelyne.
On their groundbreaking debut, Since I Left You, The Avalanches presented the world with a totally unique sound, crafted by meticulously combining over 3,500 vinyl samples. This approach set a precedent for dance music, inspiring a whole generation of musicians and producers. Released in Australia in 2000 and in the U.S. and the U.K. in 2001, Since I Left You is now regarded as a modern classic, It was named one of the year’s best albums by critics around the world and later placed in the Top 10 of Pitchfork’s Top 200 Albums of the 2000s and in the Top 20 of Rolling Stone’s Greatest EDM Albums of All Time. The video for the title track won Best Video at the 2001 MTV Europe Music Awards and was named as one of the top music videos of the 2000s by Pitchfork.
The release and subsequent touring in support of Since I Left You was followed by a 16-year radio silence, which was broken with the release of The Avalanches’ sophomore album, Wildflower (Astralwerks). It debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Vinyl Albums chart and atop the Australian Albums chart in 2016. Wildflower earned six ARIA Award nominations and international acclaim, with The Guardian hailing it as “a joyous journey” and Pitchfork proclaiming it “better than just about any music ever made” and “an album that could have been made by nobody but the Avalanches.” About Astralwerks: Established in 1993 in New York City, Astralwerks was the brainchild of Caroline Records staffers who saw an opportunity for a label focused on the nascent electronic and ambient scene. Now based at the historic Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood, Astralwerks has emerged as a modern, artist-first label and the #1 market share leader for dance/electronic music in the U.S. Combining a scalable, independent and global-thinking ethos with the ability to tap into the resources of a major label has enabled Astralwerks to sign such artists as ILLENIUM, Jonas Blue, Alison Wonderland, EDEN, ZHU and Alesso. As a testament to its pioneering approach, Astralwerks has amassed 30 GRAMMY® nominations, taken home six GRAMMY Awards and had historic releases from the likes of The Chemical Brothers, Swedish House Mafia, Halsey, Porter Robinson, Phoenix, Eric Prydz, Fatboy Slim and many others. The label has also released such massive singles as the 5x Platinum “Happier” by Marshmello + Bastille and FISHER’s “Losing It.”
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