Idiogram, an innovative post-prog quartet from Scotland, announce the release of ‘Twilight Sleep,’ the first single from their ambitious debut album ‘Reunion of Broken Parts’.
‘Twilight Sleep’ is a catchy, driven and rhythmic post-progressive track. Taking its title from a type of conscious sedation, the track takes the listener on an intense and vivid journey through dynamic musical sections interlocked with an atmospheric layer of shifting energy.
An ominous synth and guitar-led introduction is joined by bass, drums and a strong piano melody. Then the band’s irreverent humour is highlighted with a curious and whimsical spoken-word sample. Later, a drop into a heavy rhythmic section ultimately gives way to beautiful piano figures and heavily processed guitar, leaving the listener in an ambient dream state, reflecting the track’s title.
This single captures the essence of the album which it is taken from – accessible if not straightforward, and performed with joyful conviction. The track is complemented by a music video directed by Jess Aslan.
Talking about the track, Lesley (keys) says: “Twilight Sleep is really special to us, it’s the first song we completed together and, as such, it revealed to us where our combined ideas and influences were going to take us sonically. It was really a springboard from which we all believed we could create something special together.”
Keith (drums) adds: “When we wrote this track, we were still figuring out our process and some of the patterns really seemed complicated. I remember having to tape a chart up on the wall and step through each section!”
“This is a track we know inside out now but it still feels fresh and fun to play. It’s full of opportunities to lock in with each other, but also has moments where each of us steps out in front of the texture of the song.’’ Ali (bass) comments.
Reflecting on the recording process, Ali (guitar) notes: “We added some sonic details in the production that still catch the ear now. Manipulating the sound of a 19th century grand piano with a 21st ccentury guitar pedal was particularly pleasing, and sums up our approach to sound pretty well.”
“For sure” adds Lesley, “I think that’s the thing that really excites me about being a part of this group – our approach to composition and performance. It’s a fully collaborative process, where we are open to all possibilities and push ourselves, each other and our instruments. This results in music that wouldn’t exist without any one of us: it truly feels greater than the sum of its parts. It’s extremely liberating to be making music that embraces ideas without agenda, for the sheer joy of it.”
Talking about the video, Jess says: “Working with Idiogram lent a lot of opportunity for experimentation. The inspiration and title of the track lead to a lot of rich visual possibilities that I wanted to explore with a number of different creative processes, forming animated half-faces of musicians changing in a perpetually morphing landscape. Creating a hybrid space between technology and ‘organic’ is something that I’m always interested in playing with. I focused on drawing movement and shape from the sound of the track itself, which was a dream to work with!”
Fuelled by an ethos of total collaboration, Idiogram’s forthcoming debut album ‘Reunion of Broken Parts‘, produced by Graeme Young and Chamber Studio, is creatively ambitious and threaded with field recordings, samples, and soundscapes. Bass, drums, keyboards and guitar interface with digital processing and combine to form a sound that is equally technological and organic, occasionally confusing, and oceanic in scale.
Their music fuses influences from post-prog, rock, electronic, ambient and classical. Moods and emotions swing wildly between dense, melodramatic bombast and sparse, ambient void-gazing – unpredictable yet eloquent. Unconstrained by convention or expectation, and reflecting a shared love of the weird and the beautiful, the result is a compelling and rewarding musical journey.
For fans of: Battles, 65daysofstatic, The Cooper Temple Clause, DJ Shadow, Tortoise, Boards of Canada, and Public Service Broadcasting.
Idiogram
Idiogram are Lesley Crawford (Piano, Keys), Ali Gillies (Bass), Ali Kilpatrick (Guitar) and Keith Kirkwood (Drums). Each musician also steps outside the typical roles of these instruments using live processing, effects and samples, helping to create a sound that is greater than the sum of its (broken) parts.
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