Tom Scholefield's journey from visual artist to ambient synth auteur Konx-om-Pax continues, with the Scottish artist having revealed plans to put out a mostly beatless LP this summer. His Caramel seeps out of speakers July 8 through Planet Mu.
A press release explains that Scholefield has been working on the album since issuing Regional Surrealism back in 2012. This latest work is said to present a "joyful cheesiness," with the song cycle taking inspiration from hooky, earworm melodies.
"A lot of the tracks are very simple, that's quite an important theme," he said in a statement. "I remember the Human League [talking] about how you can play their songs using only a couple of fingers on the synth, or Boards of Canada saying its important to be able to hum their melodies really easily."
It's added that the record was also informed by Konx-om-Pax's time touring the world with Lone as both a visual artist and a DJ, where he was apparently listening to a bunch of old rave cassettes. Of his own drone-y work, Scholefield explained that "some of the tracks are like photocopies of photocopies of rave tracks, where the drums have dissolved and its just the melodies that have survived."
Below, you'll find the full tracklisting for Caramel, as well as a stream of its title track's melted, serotonin-unleashing synthscapes.
Caramel:
1. Video Club
2. Perc Rave
3. Last Jam Forever
4. Manhunter
5. Oren's Theme
6. Frozen Border
7. Mega Glacial
8. Caramel
9. Radiance
10. Beatrice's Visit
11. Stay
12. Cosmic Trigger
13. At The Lake
14. Rainbow Bounce
A press release explains that Scholefield has been working on the album since issuing Regional Surrealism back in 2012. This latest work is said to present a "joyful cheesiness," with the song cycle taking inspiration from hooky, earworm melodies.
"A lot of the tracks are very simple, that's quite an important theme," he said in a statement. "I remember the Human League [talking] about how you can play their songs using only a couple of fingers on the synth, or Boards of Canada saying its important to be able to hum their melodies really easily."
It's added that the record was also informed by Konx-om-Pax's time touring the world with Lone as both a visual artist and a DJ, where he was apparently listening to a bunch of old rave cassettes. Of his own drone-y work, Scholefield explained that "some of the tracks are like photocopies of photocopies of rave tracks, where the drums have dissolved and its just the melodies that have survived."
Below, you'll find the full tracklisting for Caramel, as well as a stream of its title track's melted, serotonin-unleashing synthscapes.
Caramel:
1. Video Club
2. Perc Rave
3. Last Jam Forever
4. Manhunter
5. Oren's Theme
6. Frozen Border
7. Mega Glacial
8. Caramel
9. Radiance
10. Beatrice's Visit
11. Stay
12. Cosmic Trigger
13. At The Lake
14. Rainbow Bounce