Brian Leeds, better known as Huerco S., will release his first album in six years next month.
Leeds, the Kansas artist known for his shapeshifting sound worlds, continues to chart new landscapes that explore the blurred textures between genres—solo as Huerco S. and Pendant, and through his curation of West Mineral Ltd., where he releases the work of and collaborates with the likes of Exael, Mister Water Wet, Pontiac Streator, Ulla, and Uon. (You can read more about this community of artists in EDMjunkies+27, which featured a track from Leeds as Autobouncer620.)
The world of Plonk, though, does not wholly resemble anything Leeds has made before. We’re told that his sound palette has broadened to absorb trap and drill’s taught rhythms, “amongst the gaseous bodies,” which he fuses with “soul-piercing ambience.”
“Where those previous veins were rooted in the pre-Columbian civilizations of his native Kansas,” Incensio, the New York label behind the release, explains., “Plonk reflects the mournful sodium glow of cities at night, street corners that light up with painful moments of clarity you wish would disappear.”
The album’s conception was rooted in Leeds’ love of rally cars and his fascinations for their engine mechanics. Each track on the album highlights a different aspect of the machine, which forces the listener to pay attention to the spaces between the notes, and their many interlocking parts. The album features Leeds’ first vocal collaboration, with Sir EU, which “reflects the machine’s subconscious,” we’re told.
“Intertwined narratives glitch and judder where the inspirational motorik sounds of his youth fuel a world where emotions linger and memories flicker, where your own psycho-geography is reflected back at you,” Incensio continues. “The lullabies at the start lull you into a false sense of security, the brooding airs that lurk throughout among the kinetic rhythms probe your head like accusations and uncertainties. The cavernous finale shows what Plonk presents to the world, as all before examined its inner parts and outer truths.”
Leeds’ last album came in 2016, namely For Those Of You Who Have Never (And Also Those Who Have) on Proibito, Naples’ previous label.
Tracklisting
01. Plonk I
02. Plonk II
03. Plonk III
04. Plonk IV
05. Plonk V
06. Plonk VI
07. Plonk VII
08. Plonk VIII
09. Plonk IX (feat. SIR E.U)
10. Plonk X
Plonk LP is scheduled for February 26 release. Meanwhile, you can stream a video for “Plonk IV” and pre-order here.
