Andy Stott just announced his followup to best of 2014 album Faith In Strangers, and it’s coming super soon. Too Many Voices will drop April 22, not even four weeks from now. I was already excited at the news, but when I heard the first single, I lost my shit.
Here’s the video for Butterflies:
What you’re seeing is the mind blowing slow motion dance moves of Rafael Chinx Martin, gliding through a kaleidoscopic cross section of New York non-sequiturs. As with everything Stott touches, it’s undeniably hypnotic. The grace and dignity of this wordless slide through modern life feels like a Koyaanisqatsi spiritual sequel in miniature. Like that groundbreaking film, this video is a technicolor burst of empathy and understanding, painting aesthetic joy to the textured grid of humanity.
Martin crosses a half dozen New York locations, from subway stations to ground zero, grooving to balletic extremes. It feels like moonwalking in exultation, bending gravity in every direction. This is a spiritual experience as much as it is physical.
The visuals reflect the expanded palette Stott appears to be working with, trading in his stark black and white solitude for the neon soaked glow of crowded urban life. Despite the album artwork fitting right in line with his greyscale discography, Butterflies feels like the start of a completely new direction for the Manchester producer. The metallic grind of his slow motion techno has evolved over the past two albums, adding operatic female vocal fragments, then actual sung phrases without diluting the truly alien effect of his sound. If this song is any indication, he’s approaching some spacey Dam-Funk territory from an oblique angle, welding curvy synth tones and sensual vocals to the very backbone of the track. Change can feel scary, but this just feels so instantly right.
The album is coming from Stott’s longtime label Modern Love, and you can already preorder on Boomkat. With how good his last couple albums have been pressed, I won’t hesitate on the vinyl edition.
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