Enigmatic IDM producer and long-standing Warp bastion Clark has been steadily releasing albums every couple of years since his 2001 debut Clarence Park. Seeing as it's been two years since the haunting acoustics of Iradelphic, it's only natural that he's returned with another.
Clark arrived earlier this week via Warp, and as the UK producer tells Exclaim, there's logic behind the record being self-titled.
"I decided to have it as an eponymous album quite early on, when it wasn't fleshed out, and by doing that it made me really disciplined about making the record," Clark says. "It was a way of making me try and sum up everything that I've done so far, especially in the electronic realm. All the dancefloor material that I've made over the years is encapsulated in this record, I think, and by calling it nothing and just having it as an eponymous album you're like 'Well I have to make this one really good.'"
Despite being incredibly prolific, Clark admits that this latest LP has left him in a wake of satisfying inactivity. "When I normally finish albums, I usually wanna write again in about two weeks, I don't wanna hear the album, and I've got plans of where to go next, but with this record, I really don't know what to do now, which is really nice. The fulfillment of finishing it has lingered a lot even though I finished it five months ago."
In addition to sating Clark somewhat, the new release has also broken the mould in terms of process, by taking his usually scattered timeline and focusing it on a four-month session in the English countryside.
"I've never worked that intensely on a record in such a short space of time and I've never stayed in one location either," he says. "I've always written my albums around and about, between gigs, and in different countries, whereas this was kind of old-school in the way that people used to record albums, y'know in one session. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone. It brings a sort of weird energy to your process, especially if you're not distracted by anything else as well."
Weird energy, seclusion and isolation are all themes that are touched on with this new album by Clark, who says he's made it intentionally introverted.
"I want people to listen to this album on headphones and climb inside it and inhabit it. I wanted to make something that was almost like a protective shield that you could really disappear inside. I didn't want to make it clubby in a throwaway, frivolous sense."
Clark arrived earlier this week via Warp, and as the UK producer tells Exclaim, there's logic behind the record being self-titled.
"I decided to have it as an eponymous album quite early on, when it wasn't fleshed out, and by doing that it made me really disciplined about making the record," Clark says. "It was a way of making me try and sum up everything that I've done so far, especially in the electronic realm. All the dancefloor material that I've made over the years is encapsulated in this record, I think, and by calling it nothing and just having it as an eponymous album you're like 'Well I have to make this one really good.'"
Despite being incredibly prolific, Clark admits that this latest LP has left him in a wake of satisfying inactivity. "When I normally finish albums, I usually wanna write again in about two weeks, I don't wanna hear the album, and I've got plans of where to go next, but with this record, I really don't know what to do now, which is really nice. The fulfillment of finishing it has lingered a lot even though I finished it five months ago."
In addition to sating Clark somewhat, the new release has also broken the mould in terms of process, by taking his usually scattered timeline and focusing it on a four-month session in the English countryside.
"I've never worked that intensely on a record in such a short space of time and I've never stayed in one location either," he says. "I've always written my albums around and about, between gigs, and in different countries, whereas this was kind of old-school in the way that people used to record albums, y'know in one session. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone. It brings a sort of weird energy to your process, especially if you're not distracted by anything else as well."
Weird energy, seclusion and isolation are all themes that are touched on with this new album by Clark, who says he's made it intentionally introverted.
"I want people to listen to this album on headphones and climb inside it and inhabit it. I wanted to make something that was almost like a protective shield that you could really disappear inside. I didn't want to make it clubby in a throwaway, frivolous sense."
