Irish composer Alex Dowling today shared new single and video “King of Thumbs” from his forthcoming debut album Reality Rounds, due out January 31st, 2020 via Carrier Records.
Reality Rounds was written for four vocalists (who each use customized wireless controllers to manipulate their AutoTuned voices in real-time) and synthesizer (performed by Grammy-nominated composer/pianist Pascal Le Bouef). The album was recorded and filmed live, and in full, at Princeton University by Four/Ten Media.
Dowling built “King of Thumbs” around an imagined deck of cards that the performers recite at the beginning of this ritual. Halfway through, a startling interruption transports the listener to a new sonic environment where the choir’s whistling is transformed into a flickering texture, a type of artificial birdsong. The music has echoes of Aphex Twin or Oneohtrix Point Never seen through the prism of Bjork’s Medúlla.
The full album and video of Reality Rounds will be released digitally and on CD January 31st, 2020 via Carrier Records.