Impersonator

In February when we introduced Majical Cloudz we also hinted at a forthcoming longplayer this Spring. We're excited to share the details of 'Impersonator', Devon Welsh & Matthew Otto's first for Matador and one of the most stirring new albums we've heard in recent times.

Welsh explains of 'Impersonator'

In the last few years there’s been a massive explosion of amazing music made with computers, samplers and other electronic equipment. The possibilities became nearly endless and musicians indulged those possibilities. I love that kind of music but it also started to overwhelm me. I wasn’t cut out for the maximalist expressions of that style. So I took a break from music, and when I started again it was to make music that barely existed and felt like stillness more than movement. Where the songs could be more about humanness. I love all forms of electronic music, techno, house, rave, hip-hop, but I never want to feel like the music I’m making is just about stylistic play. The easiest way for me to do that is try to make something without obvious movement; where the music isn’t overstuffed sonically or referentially, it’s emptied out as much as possible. So the vision for Impersonator was to communicate a lot with as little as possible. It’s not meant to energize and turn you out to the world, it’s meant to do the opposite; it’s more like a cocoon.

'Impersonator''s expressive power and swagger belie its extremely minimal music. These are intensely lyrical songs about death, patience, family, friendship, and desire, with Welsh’s rich vocals atop quiet looped waves of white noise, filtered synths and sparse thuds.