For years Clark has been a relatively unsung hero on Warp Records, hidden in the long shadows cast by cult electronic poster boys Aphex Twin, Autechre and Boards of Canada.
But English producer Chris Clark has been one of the most consistent recruits on the iconic label, with seven albums of machine-tooled mutated techno and intricate electronics, and a hands-on wired-up audio-visual live show that shoots for the apocalypse.
Clark’s eighth LP Death Peak is due out in April, and he’s just released the first single Peak Magnetic, which he’s helpfully described as sounding like “a boulder bouncing down a hill with birds tweeting around it”.
The boulder in question is the thunderous backbone of the track, creating a satisfying soft-focus 4/4 din, amid the aforementioned birdsong, fluttery synths and sampled choir swells that recall Brian Eno’s fourth movement on Music For Airports.
Most tracks on Death Peak will have vocals with discernible lyrics, while Peak Magnetic opts for a more abstract floaty female voice chanting and wafting between the scuffed beats – lifting Clark’s production out of previous dark corners and putting a distinctly positive spin on this taster for the new record.
“I want my tracks to have sharp teeth, but you want to stroke them too. They sound ancient, but beamed in from the future, soft corrosive,” he says.
Prepare to be stroked all over when Clark releases Death Peak on April 4 on Warp Records.
Moo Kid 