out now: Chris Liebing - Another Day [Mute]

Artist:
Chris Liebing

Title:
Another Day

Label:
Mute

Cat#:
STUMM469

Release Date:
19th November 2021

Format:
CD, limited vinyl, vinyl, download & streaming

Tracklist:
01.
Fault Line
[feat. Miles Cooper Seaton]

02.
Patterns
[feat. Maria Uzor]

03.
10 West

04.
Circles
[feat. Tom Adams]

05.
Something Half Way

06.
Another Day
[feat. Polly Scattergood]

07.
Cause & Effect

08.
Whispers And Wires
[feat. Ladan]

09.
Hollow Town
[feat. Tom Adams]

10.
Closedown

Press Info:
“With this album, I wanted to take myself out of it as much as possible,” says Chris Liebing of his latest solo album, Another Day. As a DJ with a formidable reputation for thrilling audiences with pummelling techno for three decades, Liebing is comfortable with being in the spotlight, but for his solo work, has chosen a different avenue.

On his 2018 debut for Mute, Burn Slow, Liebing took his love of a vast array of ‘80s music, explored themes around meditation, and brought in guest vocalists, including Gary Numan, to create an album that explored a new sonic world – lulling the listener into a meditative state via its slowly unfurling electronic grooves and engulfing atmospheres.

Here, Liebing continues to work with some of the people who made Burn Slow – producer and collaborator Ralf Hildenbeutel and vocalists Miles Cooper Seaton and Polly Scattergood – as well as new guests such as Ladan (formerly known as Cold Specks), Tom Adams and Maria Uzor (Sink Ya Teeth). However, this time Liebing removed himself from suggesting themes and lyrics. “I thought: let’s not burden all these vocalists with my thoughts,” he says. “I don’t want to convey a super serious message with this album. I don’t want to tell people how the world is or how I see it. I wanted to get as much of my own ego out of this process as possible and leave a lot of room for interpretation.”

Liebing jokes that this is the result of him “getting lazy” but in reality, it’s more an exercise in intuition and spontaneity, allowing decades of musical experience – on and off the dance floor – to dictate the creative flow. “I’m a strong believer in letting the moment decide what’s happening,” he says. “If you’ve studied your set up and you know what you’re doing then you can let the moment take over because you’re not busy trying to figure out how things work, you just know. Then there is more creativity just flowing through. You just automatically hit the right stuff and do the right things.”

The crucial relationship Liebing has built up with co-producer Hildenbeutel meant they could approach the studio with a sense of experimentation and deep trust. “All this music just came out of the moment,” he says. “I literally went into the studio every morning with the idea that popped into my head on the way there. Every day, we started something new.” This sense of letting go and seeing where things take you is a guiding principle throughout. “It was about just letting go of all your ideas, your troubles and your goals,” he says. “Maybe this album is the result of what I’ve learned from making the last one – that I should just let things happen. If you’re not stressing it, it will come, it will happen. And if it doesn’t happen, then maybe it shouldn’t happen.”

Soon enough 10 instrumental tracks emerged. A combination of analogue synths and drum machines colliding to form industrial electro, sci-fi-esque pulsations and variety of tonal explorations that exist as a pendulum swing between hard, gritty and raw moments to restrained and immersive grooves. On ‘Whispers and Wires (feat. Ladan)’, electronics simmer away gently and Laden’s vocals float over before the two coalesce harmoniously. On the instrumental ‘Something Half Way’ Liebing hits a sweet spot with an incandescent piece of electronic music that fizzes with dance floor vitality just as much as it lends itself to deep headphone listening. ‘Fault Line (feat. Miles Cooper Seaton)’ is a bittersweet track on the record, with the former Akron/Family man’s rich baritone – which glides over stark hissing beats – being one of his last performances, due to his sad and untimely passing earlier this year, “I am still shocked and deeply saddened by Miles’ passing. He was such a fantastic human and artist, he took my music to another level. I will forever miss our late night conversations on the phone talking about music and life.”

Liebing has also began work on reimagining the album for a club context. A series of club remixes of tracks from the album will overlap the worlds of his bourgeoning solo career and his club reputation. “I have a really good idea of how to do a live set using this material,” he says. “Which will satisfy the techno fans because it’s going to be enough four to the floor stuff but if somebody would randomly show up having only listened to the album they probably wouldn’t leave because there is enough stuff from the album, just in a different version where it comes into techno territory.”

Despite Liebing very much directing and driving the shape, tone and essence of the album, he ultimately views it as one rooted in collaboration. “The main theme behind the album was like: I’ll just give everyone a blank page,” he says. “Because I trust these people with their art.” Mute’s Daniel Miller contributed at the mixing process. “Daniel’s input was just incredible,” he says. “He brought his modular setup in our studio and he added this extra flavour.” This added element, combined with Hildenbeutel’s silky production skills, the eclectic presence of the guest vocalists and Liebing’s intuitive ear for compositions, results in something truly unique. “We all did something exceptional here,” says Liebing. “I think this is a really big milestone in my career, maybe even the biggest.”

Snippets:
soon

Full Track Streaming:
“Circles” [feat. Tom Adams]