Matthew Herbert's work is at times difficult, at others soothing – but always, always inspiring.
Entering conceptual realms of late, the producer recently signalled a return to purely electronic climes.
New album 'The Shakes' will be released on June 1st via Caroline International, and it's an intriguing fusion of the intensely personal and the universal. Sampling the sounds of used bullets and shells found online, 'The Shakes' fulfils Herbert's notion that “music helps to motivate, provide respite and divert us from the challenges of the everyday” while he also adds that it is “electronic music for the soul.”
It's a record which harks back to the minialist house of 'Bodily Functions', but finds Matthew Herbert operating with a rather different purpose. “When I started writing music, I did it because I could, because there was a chance to, because I liked it,” he said recently. “As I get older these reasons become less compelling.”
“At a time when inequality is rising to unprecedented extremes and when the system we have created is designed to destroy rather than nurture, music’s propensity to noodle inconclusively can seem unhelpful at best. Who needs diversion when action is required? However, music can’t only and always be a call to arms, it can also tenderize and engulf when comfort is needed. This album then is an attempt to find a middle ground between those two positions.”
Clash is able to premiere the official video for 'Ones'. Lasting a mere 90 seconds, the track is a soothing yet challenging introduction to the new project, with Herbert tracing electronics against vocal samples, found sounds and more.
Check it out now.
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