Released: June 30, 2017
tracklist:
01. Applause
02. I Feel You
03. Pulse
04. Blue Chip
05. Nowhere
06. Above The Triangle
07. Above The Triangle (ii)
08. Black Hole
09. Set The Scene
10. Dreamwork
AU.RA
Cultivations | FLT-042
Originating in Sydney and now split between the UK and Australia, Au.Ra is the musical pairing of Tim Jenkins and Tom Crandles. As previous projects came to an end (Parades/Ghostwood), the pair began making music together in 2011 - improvised long sessions that consisted only of a drum machine and two guitars.
With Tim Jenkins based in Sydney and Tom Crandles in London, recording on Cultivations was restricted to the brief windows they had together. In the Summer of 2015 & ‘16, they holed up in Sydney’s 301 Studios for ten days to record their second album.
Pairing structure and spontaneity on several vastly different songs (see: the intricate, slow-moving guitars of "Dreamwork" and the disjointed dance loops of "Blue Chip”), the album observes pop structures while frequently bending or stepping outside them altogether. That goes for everything from the shimmering keys and steely percussion of "I Feel You" to the lush, melancholic melodies of "Set the Scene"—tracks that take cues from King Tubby's dub-wise delays and classic, murky synth-pop. Not to mention "Nowhere," a humid number that channels such richly woven reference points as the surreal '90s program Wild Palms and the artful duets of David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto.