The Return of Gas

So this came out of the blue.

17 years since the last new album, Wolfgang Voigt’s ambient project is returning with a new LP. As a creator of beautiful things, Voigt and his Kompakt label have flown the flag in the meantime. However “Narkopop” is an unexpected delight and to combine it with some live dates adds to the excitement. I say live – I mean most probably Wolfgang, a laptop and a projector which still makes for a fantastic evening if his last visit to the Barbican was anything to go by. Tickets are on sale today and he’s moved into the main auditorium, having last played the more intimate cinema space. The gig is selling out quickly with members already snapping up seats for an immersive evening on 8 October, following the new LP’s release on 21 April.

As one would accept, “Narkopop” is being released as what looks like a beautiful artbook with vinyl, CD with artbook or good old fashioned download. The blurb from Kompakt suggests that numbered tracks (“Narkopop 1″, Narkopop 2” etc (you get the picture)) each:

unfold their magic in a more entwined manner, sometimes with the sonic might of an entire philharmonic orchestra, sometimes as subtle and fragile as the most delicate branch of a tree with many.

The clip that I’ve heard so far sounds like it is carrying the Gas heritage forward. Sometime beatless, sometime with a bass pulse and with added atmospheric crackles but always redolent of that walk in the woods that I wrote about here.

The album can be pre-ordered from Kompakt here.

If you are partial to a bit of Eno, Bowie or Sylvian, give it a whirl and quickly if you want to get to the Barbican gig.