Heathered Pearls will release his third album, Cast, on Ghostly International in November.
Cast sees Jakub Alexander, a Polish-born Brooklynite, returning to the moodier loop formats of his earlier work, but this time he’s joined by the distinctly new presence of the spoken word. Whereas in the past Alexander has used instrumental music to build and release tension, on this album he turns to his friends’ spoken words to find emotion. The move is reflected in the album title: the collaborators comprise a cast.
Alexander started work on Cast when living in Berlin and in Queens, but he hit a wall listening to the tracks when they were instrumental, leading him to integrate speech. He invited strictly non-scripted recordings, like a series of “anti-performances,” he says.
Among the guest storytellers is Alexander’s friend Nick Murphy (formerly Chet Faker), who unwinds a series of tender observations on “Basic Needs.” The album’s closer, “Life Out Of Balance,” contains elements from Shigeto, and the voice of elusive Detroit techno legend Terrence Dixon appears on “Salvaged Copper,” which you can stream below.
We’re told that these flashes of language turn the Heathered Pearls sound into something gritty, tangible, and cinematic.
Alexander debuted on Ghostly in 2012 with Loyal, on which he mimicked the hypnotic motions of ocean waves at night. The second Heathered Pearls album, Body Complex, found inspiration from comfort, imperfection, and visions of interior architecture, transforming Loyal‘s soft textures into driving 4/4 figures. He released Detroit, MI 1997—2001 in 2017.
Tracklisting
01. Missing Highs
02. Caveat Emptor
03. Ultra Blue (feat. Newborn Jr)
04. An Obstruction In The Clear Plastic
05. What Else Do You Want? (feat. Baltra)
06. Utica
07. Salvaged Copper (feat. Terrence Dixon)
08. Basic Needs (feat. Nick Murphy)
09. ASMR/Exhaustion
10. Cement Object, Vacuum Sealed
11. Pain Tolerance
12. Muscle/Maintain/Feen (feat. Danny Scales)
13. Faith For The Weak
14. Life Out Of Balance (feat. Santpoort, Shigeto & Krzysztof Wodiczko)
Cast LP is scheduled for November 13 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Salvaged Copper” (feat. Terrence Dixon) below and pre-order the album here.
