Today, Powell Tillmans release their debut EP Spoken By The Other. It’s a collection of recordings from two of the most interesting artists in Europe, and one whose short length belies its radical tenderness, sonic language and political ambition.
The first part of the partnership is Oscar Powell, the London-based electronic musician. The second is Wolfgang Tillmans, the Turner Prize-winning fine artist and musician who lives between Berlin and London. Read their recent interview with Pitchfork about the collaboration here.
Overnight the pair appeared on Pay Close Attention, XL Recordings’ brand-new podcast series of in-depth conversations between artists and their closest collaborators. Pay Close Attention aims to delve deep into the artistic process, inviting XL affiliated artists to discuss the theories and realities of their creative methods and collaborations.
This inaugural episode features Wolfgang Tillmans discussing the beauty of collaboration, its ability to push you outside your comfort zone, embracing change and the benefits of CBD oil. Listen to the podcast here.
Recording took place in Berlin, London and Turin, with Tillmans’s vocals working in tandem with Powell’s synthetic processes. These tracked were workshopped live at European festivals Atonal and Club2Club in the second half of 2017, and with no small number of emails and voice files exchanged, these ideas evolved into the final EP this year.
Across the EP, Tillmans’s vocals drive and weave through the music. Powell’s sounds are at once sharply focused and beautifully free. Each track represents another venture into the possibilities of computer music: composed with modular synthesisers and digital signal processing applications, these are etudes that glitter, shift and shimmer as they find themselves.
Listen / purchase Spoken By The Other here.
