The UK Touch label continues its policy of high-quality packaging for its unique selection of curated sounds. We received a bag of recent and not-so-recent items – LPs, cassettes, CDs, and a box set – from label owner MSC Harding on 2 May 2023. Herewith a few brief notes on same.
From Drøne comes The Long Song (PRLP 14), released on a Swedish label Pomperipossa Records, dated 2021 on the back but I think released in May 2023. Duo of Mike Harding and Mark Van Hoen this be, Van Hoen a prolific electronic “producer” based in London and also associated with the names Autocreation, Black Hearted Brother, IHVH, Scala, Seefeel, Sine Bubble, and Sing-Sing. Not familiar with too many of these and some may simply be aliases for a solo turn, or not. There’s another LP by Drøne called The Stilling from 2020, which we’ll get to shortly…very much enjoying The Long Song, which triggers strange feelings of sadness and nostalgia, not just because of the evocative sounds, but also the monochrome photos presented here by Nico Van Hoen, and eight of them in a full-size printed insert and a ninth on the cover. Like the noises from the grooves, these images suggest stories or perhaps memories, fleeting and sometimes beautiful. The musicians arrive in a similar place by a variety of means, sampling and field recordings for sure, but probably also radio broadcasts served up in perplexing snippets. I gather that much of it is left open to chance, and the creators keep on changing their minds about the final shape of the album right up until the eleventh hour – a strategy which for them “add(s) to the dynamism and energy of the album”. The relevant action here is the editing, which isn’t simply about overlapping mismatched and out-of-context sounds to produce an audio jigsaw-puzzle; it’s done with remarkable subtlety, artistry, and sensitivity. Evidently both creators pay very close attention to fades and durations, such that The Long Song emerges as a kind of radio broadcast from Heaven, or at the least a debased paradise where past, present and future can intermingle freely.
On another level, one might characterise the LP as a survey of the world and its current state, except instead of homing in on violent and political hotspots (as some might be tempted to do), Drøne take the time to reveal the thoughts, fancies and ideas of every sad and displaced lonely soul who stalks the globe, For us as listeners, the net result is like floating in an extraordinary supernatural ethereal place. With assist from organ playing of Claire M Singer, and the voices of many friends and Touch collaborators, including Alex Hoàng, Anna von Hausswolff, Bana Haffar, Bethan Kellough, Galya Bisengalieva, Ipek Gorgun, and Jana Winderen. “Made in the UK – what’s left of it”, reads a poignant note on the back cover, indicating the artists despair of what has become of our country, as our intelligence, culture, and even our humanity is slowly leeched away by dark forces.