His new album, Powder Dry, out now from Kscope, Tim Bowness follows it with new single ‘Films Of Our Youth’ out now.
Described by Bowness as “a combination of sound effects treated Mellotron strings and sampled voice,” you can check out the video, created by singer/songwriter Julianne Regan of All About Eve fame, here at RAMzine.
A prolific singer, songwriter and producer, Bowness is known for his distinctive vocals and expressive style of songwriting. Notable among those he’s worked alongside are Steven Wilson, releasing seven studio albums under the No-man banner head. More recently he’s worked with Nosound’s Giancarlo Erra, that act having recently released the single ‘Dogs’, featuring Bowness.
Speaking about signing with Kscope, Bowness said, “With its eclectic roster and open-minded and adventurous approach to music and presentation, Kscope seems like a logical home for what I’ve been coming up with of late. I’m excited to see where it all leads.”
Powder Dry features 16 pieces over its restless 40-minute duration. Bowness’s eighth studio album, it is said to represent a new beginning on a new label.
A collection of acute contrasts, the album is a vibrantly accessible and wildly experimental genre-blurring assault, embracing industrial rock, electro pop, singer-songwriter directness, haunted carnival soundscapes and more.
Following his signing with the London-based Kscope label, home of the modern progressive rock acts like The Pineapple Thief, Porcupine Tree and TesseracT, Bowness first released the propulsive ‘Rock Hudson’ single, a paranoid ode to online discourse. Available digitally the song is accompanied by a vibrant abstract video by Matt Vickerstaff, that echoes Carl Glover’s artwork for the album, and that you can check out here at RAMzine.
‘Idiots At Large’ was previously released as a single, about which Bowness commented: “‘Idiots At Large is definitely a combination of musical extremes – prettiness and viciousness existing side by side – with the atmospheric verses having something of the ambient/minimalist classical about them and the choruses being as close I come to industrial /metal.
“The song is partly about eco-apocalypse and partly about someone becoming detached from their family and friends as a result of their increasingly strong beliefs (beliefs reinforced by digging deeper down the internet rabbit hole). This isn’t a commentary on the rights or wrongs of anything, it’s an observation about how idealism can alter the course of a life.
“Like all of the album Powder Dry, the song resulted from an attempt to capture a fleeting feeling as accurately as I could. This time the mood was dark, and there’s something of the spiky post-punk and electro-pop music of the early 1980s that captivated me as a teenager in the mix. Joy Division, The Cure, The The etc.”
It can be streamed/downloaded here and is accompanied by a vibrant, atmospheric video created by Matt Vickerstaff that you can check out here at RAMzine.
‘Idiots At Large’ presents an intriguing combination of delicate atmospherics and dynamic explosions to tell the story of someone drifting away from their previously safe home life and mainstream views.
More recently ‘Lost/Not Lost’ was a single, with Bowness noting, “Both musically and lyrically, ‘Lost/Not Lost’ is the most direct song on Powder Dry. It’s a straight-ahead electro-pop piece with an optimistic lyric embracing escape and a spirit of abandon. It provides a sharp contrast to some of the bleak sentiments and troubled tales found elsewhere on the album. Like the rest of the music, it came together in a very natural and instinctive way. Clearly, I was in a rare good mood that day!”
Mixed by Bowness’s partner in No-man, Steven Wilson, the new single can be streamed/downloaded here and is accompanied by a pulsating and vivid new video produced by Blacktide Productions that you can check out here at RAMzine.
Entirely produced, performed and written by Bowness (a first), Powder Dry was mixed (in stereo and surround sound) by Bowness’s partner in No-man (and The Album Years podcast), Steven Wilson, who also acted as Bowness’s sounding board during the mixing process.
“I’ve had the pleasure to work on most of Tim’s solo albums, and for me this is the best and most creative of them all, partly because this time it’s truly a solo album, showcasing not only his unique vocals, but also his distinctive approach to production and performance. It’s totally Tim!” said Wilson.
Chronicling descents into ideological extremism, eco-apocalypse, and the all-too human quest for love in a time of crisis, the album is a constantly shifting kaleidoscope of sound; chasing feelings, searching for meanings and trying to capture the ever-elusive nowness of now.
Tracks featured are: ‘Rock Hudson’, ‘Lost/Not Lost’, ‘When Summer Comes’, ‘Idiots At Large’, ‘A Stand-Up For The Dying’, ‘Old Crawler’, Heartbreak Notes’, ‘Ghost Of A Kiss’, ‘Summer Turned’, ‘You Can Always Disappear’, ‘Powder Dry’, ‘Films Of Our Youth’, ‘This Way Now’, ‘I Was There’, ‘The Film Of Your Youth’ and ‘Built To Last’.
The album is presented as two coloured vinyl LP editions – pink and yellow – alongside a bonus CD edition with 5.1 surround sound DVD included. Standard black vinyl LP and standard CD editions will also be available. You can order it here.
TIM BOWNESS LIVE DATE
1st December: The Fiddler’s Elbow, Camden, London NW5 3HS for Prog The Forest, headlined by Tim Bowness and his band Butterfly Mind.
