Well this longform minimalist drone work is a few steps removed from the maximalist ambience of his previous couple of albums, but Australian artist Lawrence English and Room40 honcho has surprised us all with his first solo album since 2017’s Cruel Optimism. It’s based around the pipe organ in the old Brisbane Museum. This piece is dedicated to Phill Niblock, whilst the other piece on the album is for Éliane Radigue.
This is what he has to say about it:
“The organ has three manuals, 28 speaking stops and a mechanical action. For me, the critical thing about this instrument is the way the stops operate. In an organ, a stop is the device that allows the pressurised air into the organ pipes. Each organ has a very unique quality and the stops on this particular organ allow for some very slow shifts in tonality to take place. It’s this potential that is at the heart of these two works.”
The album, Lassitude (Room40) is out now. You can find it here.
