“I was quite shocked when I heard all the final cues from Panthers, lined up in the exact order they appear in the show, in a clinical linear fashion. I thought, ‘there’s no way that’s an album as it is’. There were about 60 tracks for a start. I felt like I had to rescue it from being a conventional exposition of the music in the series, so I went on an immense chiselling/editing mission and also started writing new material. I think it works as a standalone album, it’s a continuous slab of liquid melancholy, it resonates through harmony and texture. Rhythm felt less important.”

Ricordate “Omni Vignette”? Bene, a quanto pare Clark ha deciso di raccogliere tutti i materiali prodotti per “The Lat Panthers” in un nuovo, omonimo album in uscita il prossimo 18 Marzo su Warp.

I rumors in realtà circolavano già da diverso tempo: dopo aver incontrato in pieno “Clark Tour” il regista Johan Renck (Breaking Bad, Bloodline, Vikings, The Walking Dead), Clark avrebbe prodotto qualcosa come 60 tracce che, dopo un lavoro di diversi mesi fatto di ritocchi e cesello, selezione e cancellazioni, sarebbero diventate ufficilamente 19, quelle facenti parte della official soundtrack della serie curata da Sky Atlantic e dalla divisione “Films” della stessa etichetta londinese.

Quello che ci attende sarà qualcosa di particolare, a tinte scure, “di biblico e satanico”, come ammette lo stesso Clark raccontando il modo in cui Renck ha influenzato la sua produzione:

“Johan has incredibly broad, open-minded taste. “Make it more satanic, biblical” was his favourite direction. He hates handclaps too. I’m sure I managed to slip a few in there somewhere. The hard thing was reducing it to a signature ‘Panthers’ palette. The most fun part was recording huge chunks of me playing viola, and then treating the recordings like errant students in need of guitar pedal discipline. It’s an amazing feeling to play your own string parts, even though they sound quite scuffed, it brings a grit that I can’t resist. I wanted to create an unsettling, brittle sonic universe that reflected the tragic downward trajectory of the characters lives, with moments of immense enveloping warmth and softness.”

Siamo già curiosi di averlo tra le mani. #enjoythebar.

Clark - The Last Panthers LP
[Out on Warp Records, 18 Marzo 2015]

TRACKLIST:

01. Back To Belgrade
02. Hiero-Bosch For Khalil
03. Diamonds Aren’t Forever
04. Panthers Bass Plock
05. Chloroform Sauna
06. Serbian Daffodil
07. Naomi Pleen
08. Open Foe
09. Strangled To Death In A Public Toilet
10. Cryogenic
11. Brother Killer
12. Omni Vignette
13. Actual Jewels
14. Dead Eyes For Zvlatko / Heaven Theme
15. Diamonds Aren’t Forever II
16. Upward Evaporation
17. Hide On The Treads 1
18. Hide On The Treads 2
19. Hide On The Treads 3

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