The Leaf Label: NEWS ARCHIVE FOR MAY 2022

Matthew Bourne - 'Asaf' single
Published 11 May 2022 by DM

The second taste of Matthew Bourne’s new album Irrealis is out today. Listen to ‘Asaf’ here.

<a href="https://matthewbourne.bandcamp.com/album/irrealis">Irrealis by Matthew Bourne</a>

“’Asaf’ is gifted to musician Asaf Sirkis,” Bourne explains. “Along with Shri Siram and Dušan Petrović, we played together at the Garana Jazz Festival in August 2020. I’m sure most of us can remember exactly what we were doing around that time, and there was a sense of the intrepid, or an auspicious quality to the whole exercise of making this meeting happen, and its imprint was considerable.”

In anticipation of the release of Irrealis, Bourne has shared a playlist of prepared piano inspirations to whet your appetite.

Irrealis will be released May 27th worldwide digitally, and physically in the UK and Europe. The physical release for the rest of the world is July 29th. Pre-order the strictly limited black vinyl LP now – just 750 copies for the world.

Nightports w/ Tom Herbert - album out now
Published 13 May 2022 by DM

The sweeping Nightports w/ Tom Herbert album is out now. This is Nightports' third instalment in their series of collaborative albums, following Nightports w/ Matthew Bourne and Nightports w/ Betamax.

<a href="https://nightports.bandcamp.com/album/nightports-w-tom-herbert">Nightports w/ Tom Herbert by Nightports w/ Tom Herbert</a>

Tom Herbert made his name as the bass player in Mercury Music Prize-nominated bands Polar Bear and The Invisible, and has become an in-demand collaborator and session musician, including work with Adele, Lana Del Rey and most recently The Smile. Having honed his craft holding the low-end down in some of the most forward-thinking British groups of recent times, and also appearing on some the biggest tracks of the last twenty years, Nightports w/ Tom Herbert brings Herbert’s command of the double bass into the spotlight.

Watch Tom Herbert explain the Nightports manifesto, and then dive into the album in your various digital places.

You'll find CD copies of Nightports w/ Tom Herbert in UK and European shops now, the limited edition vinyl in die-cut sleeve is slightly delayed but will land in the next week or so. You can order both on Bandcamp now. Physical release for the rest of the world will now be July 29th.

Murcof - Martes 20th anniversary vinyl reissues
Published 13 May 2022 by DM

Murcof's seminal debut album, Martes, was released twenty years ago today. We're marking the occasion by reissuing his first three albums on vinyl. Out of print for many years, these albums have been hugely influential in the worlds of minimal and ambient electronic music in their use of modern classical instrumentation, and are significant landmarks in the history of The Leaf Label. Each of the reissues is presented in a new gatefold sleeve featuring updated artwork, with Remembranza and Cosmos featuring fully remastered audio, and Cosmos including a previously unreleased bonus track.

“When I started working on the first Murcof tracks in 2001, I had primarily been playing dance music under the name Terrestre,” Fernando Corona recalls. “Although it was a lot of fun, I felt like something was missing. Martes was born as a reaction to this feeling, a need to make more intimate or personal music to try and balance things out. That year, Nortec Collective were invited to play at Sónar festival in Barcelona. I burned a few CD-Rs and brought them with me, hoping I would find a nice home for my new project. If memory serves me, I met Tony Morley of The Leaf Label at a small club called FonFone. I gave him a demo, had a brief chat and wished for the best. I got an email from him a couple months later and off we went!”

Corona worked closely with Alex Gámez on the remasters for Remembranza and Cosmos, which were then cut by legendary mastering engineer Stefan Betke in Berlin.

Strap in for format details...

Martes + Utopía (20th Anniversary Edition)
- Ocean Blue vinyl 3LP (300 copies) - exclusive to Bandcamp & Norman Records
- Indies only Cloud White vinyl 3LP
- Black vinyl 3LP

Remembranza (2022 Remaster)
- Correos Red vinyl 2LP (300 copies) - exclusive to Bandcamp & Norman Records
- Indies only Laurel Green vinyl 2LP
- Back vinyl 2LP

Cosmos (2022 Remaster)
- Voyager Gold vinyl 2LP (300 copies) - exclusive to Bandcamp & Norman Records
- Indies only Lunar Silver vinyl 2LP
- Back vinyl 2LP

Bandcamp editions are available to pre-order now including a three album bundle.

The three albums will be released on vinyl in October 2022 in the UK and Europe and December for the rest of the world. Martes + Utopía is a repress of the expanded 2016 3LP reissue, now in a gatefold sleeve with updated artwork by the original designer, Rubén Alonso Tamayo. Remembranza and Cosmos are reissued on double vinyl in new gatefold sleeves with fully remastered audio.

Szun Waves - Earth Patterns
Published 25 May 2022 by DM

Szun Waves are back to usher in a ‘New Universe’. The trio – comprised of producer Luke Abbott, saxophonist Jack Wyllie (Portico Quartet) and drummer Laurence Pike (Triosk/PVT/Liars) have reconvened for sumptuous new album Earth Patterns.

<a href="https://szunwaves.bandcamp.com/album/earth-patterns">Earth Patterns by Szun Waves</a>

Album sessions took place at the tail end of their 2019 European tour, locking themselves away in the studio for three days of improvisation. They emerged with hours of music, some inspired by their live shows, most born fresh in the studio itself, ready to be moulded into the group’s third album in five years. With additional production from electronic savant James Holden and producer/engineer David Pye, they’ve emerged with the most fully-formed Szun Waves record to date.

“I think the record we've ended up with is an emotional outpouring,” Abbott says. “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,” he explains.

Dom Harwood’s video for lead track ‘New Universe’ is a brilliant distillation of what Szun Waves are - a marrying of the organic and the strange: spectral and widescreen. Indeed, Harwood has worked on all aspects of the visual identity for this era of the band, including the beautiful artwork that embodies the rich, detailed approach of Earth Patterns as a whole.

Earth Patterns will be released digitally and on CD, as well as three separate vinyl variants on August 19th. The black vinyl and limited brown smoke vinyl editions include a spot varnished cover, printed inner sleeves and a download code - pre-order on Bandcamp now. The Dinked Edition, available from a select group of UK retailers, is pressed on orange vinyl with black splatter, and limited to 500 copies, adding a screenprinted PVC outer sleeve and a 16-page photobook containing images by Dom Harwood, numbered in the Fibonacci sequence.

Matthew Bourne - Irrealis out now
Published 27 May 2022 by THD

Matthew Bourne's playful new album, Irrealis, is out today. It’s prepared piano, but not as we know it…

<a href="https://matthewbourne.bandcamp.com/album/irrealis">Irrealis by Matthew Bourne</a>

Having prepared his instrument for work on another project, Bourne took the opportunity to use the set-up to let loose, before returning the piano to its original state. A few minutes into these improvisations, he decided to hit the record button. With no real idea what these pieces would add up to, we’re given a rare snapshot of Bourne playing for his own enjoyment - his innate sense of melodicism shining through the percussive clatter and altered tunings.

“These tracks were made moments after recording some pieces for another project - caught impulsively and without alteration of the preparations, whilst also on the precipice of velleity,” Bourne explains. “This is the place from which much of my work tends to emerge. At the conclusion of each piece, there seemed an impetus to continue onto the next, and again to the next.”

“Irrealis refers to an event that hasn't occurred, or at least hasn't yet occurred,” Bourne continues. “I liked the idea that what I’m doing is something of an unreality - the end result is never audible to me at the time.”

Bourne has penned a blog post about the process of making Irrealis. If you’re keen to stay up-to-date with Bourne’s work, it’s worth keeping an eye on his blog page, as he distances himself from the hustle and bustle of social media. Who could blame him?

Irrealis is available from your favourite digital music provider now. Unfortunately, the limited edition vinyl LP has only just landed in the UK, so it won’t be in UK and European shops for another week or so, and the rest of the world will take longer. Such is life. Order from Bandcamp, and we’ll have it with you as soon as possible.