Szun Waves announce new album, co-produced by James Holden

Music

Earth Patterns marks the third album from trio Szun Waves, after a two-year hiatus from releasing music.

The group, made up of producer Luke Abbott, saxophonist Jack Wyllie and drummer Laurence Pike, hadn’t collectively been in the same country for a couple of years but the group managed to realise this album with the help of James Holden and producer/engineer David Pye, who lent their hands on the production front.

The album was originally recorded during three days of improvised studio sessions in 2019, at the end of their European tour. With the pandemic forcing the three of them being locked down in different places, they had a longer period to reassess their output and bring on Holden and Pye for extra input.

A press release describes it as ‘more grounded’ than their previous album which ‘had its face tilted up to the heavens’. The release marries jazz-inflected harmonies and cinematic atmospheres with rippling saxophone lines and heavy, clattering drums.

Abbot said that: “I think the record we’ve ended up with is an emotional outpouring. There’s a fluidity to it that feels like we tapped into something quite raw. The last record felt like drifting in space but I see this new record as a journey from the outer reaches of the universe down onto the earth, like a macrocosm to microcosm arc.”

Individually the group members have notched up their fair share of accolades. Abbott has remixed Jon Hopkins, Todd Terje and Nils Frahm, as well as releasing his first solo LP in six years, on James Holden’s Border Community label; while Wyllie has worked on releases with Portico Quartet, Forgiveness and his own Paradise Cinema project; and Pike released his third solo album in July 2020, joined art-rock band Liars, and reunited Triosk, the group that originally made his name.

Tracklist

1. Exploding Upwards
2. New Universe
3. Garden
4. In The Moon House
5. Be A Pattern For The World
6. Willow Leaf Pear
7. Atomkerne

Listen to ‘New Universe’.