Andy Bell & Timothy Clerkin announce album “Alliance” with single “Empyrean”

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Music

Written by Lily Mumby

Andy Bell & Timothy Clerkin are teaming up for a joint album called Alliance with the first single, Empyrean out now!

Andy Bell, of RIDE fame, recording under his electronic alter ego GLOK, and the producer and Insult to Injury label head honcho Timothy Clerkin have joined forces for Alliance, a brand new seven-track album released by Bytes on November 8th. The collaboration finds Andy and Tim with their freak flags flying, working in a freewheeling environment where nothing is off limits, with influences ranging from Death in Vegas and Boards of Canada to James Holden and New Order.

They already knew there was chemistry — Andy and Tim were introduced by Bytes when the label suggested Tim as a participant for the Dissident Remixed album, which was put together in 2019. Tim delivered a killer rework of ‘Projected Sounds’, turning the Neu!-meets-Steve Reich original into a tripped-out, slo-mo acid house wonder; ‘Voodoo Ray’ for the shoegaze generation. They later met in person at the funeral of Andrew Weatherall (whose influence can be heard in every groove of the album) and kept in touch.

“It’s a proper collaboration, where we both tried new things and nothing was off limits.” - Timothy Clerkin

The first single, an ever so woozy “Empyrean” manages to combine the analogue-decay of a Boards of Canada production with ethereal vocals reminscent of Xtal from Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works 85 – 92 with a fizzing behemoth of a synth line. A fitting way to begin their album – a melting pot of influences and also being the first track that Andy and Tim worked on together. “It’s basically a Timothy Clerkin remix of a demo I sent him,” Andy explains. “I can’t get enough of it. To me, it’s one of the best tracks I’ve ever been involved with since I started making music.”

Empyrean is available to buy / stream today! The album will release on November 8th, there is a limited edition LP pressed on white vinyl, available via BandCamp and all good record shops!

Buy / stream Empyrean HERE