Guy Andrews to release Permanence via Houndstooth this September, ambient counterpart and remixes to follow at a later date

Permanence is the name of the new album by the musician and producer Guy Andrews, whose work lies predominantly in the sphere of abstract electronic composition, crafting sonic textures that brood as they do blossom. Incoming via Houndstooth on September 16th, the record will be followed by an ambient counterpart [MT][NT][ET] on November 11th, with a further release of remixes by Kevin Drumm to follow early in 2021. A prologue to the album called “Twenty Seven Inches Of Mercury” premiered today via Son Of Marketing, which channels Guy’s evolving compositional process and resourcefulness when looking for inspiration. You can listen to it below in this article.

There is an honesty, openness and raw nature that defines Guy’s music, which has always been guided by his emotional responses to events in his life. Permanence is the evolution of his sonic storytelling, going deeper into Guy’s psyche and exploring his own genius loci or spirit of place. Permanence is part of a personal evolution and realisation of what is important to Guy, discovering that making music as a means of creative expression is far more meaningful than simply succumbing to an internal pressure or to the commercialisation of being creative. On Permanence, Guy pushes his creativity out of his comfort zone, leveraging sound design with composition to further express his own “language” of textures (rather than lyrics and melody) to articulate feelings and to process life experiences. Every layer of sound carries purpose and meaning. The resulting record is an autobiographical stream of consciousness designed to be listened to as one continuous long-playing piece of textural music, and for the audience to draw their own sense of meaning.

Guy explains, “Permanence is a body of work inspired by and written during a period of positive personal growth, as much as it is of loss and grief. It is a body of work that symbolises and articulates the constant evolution of relationships, people and places, that are essentially non-permanent fixtures, but can amalgamate to form a wider sense of permanence in life. The concept of change is significant here, in that, permanence can be a dynamic framework that change can operate within”. He continues, “The messages and meanings behind the works were fine-drawn into the music. I slowly came to realise that these sonic textures I had been creating in adult life circled back to me expressing myself as a young child. I would sit at my late father’s piano – the instrument he’d play in the room below to aid me to sleep at night – and press the keys to try and articulate textures, shapes and colours through self-expression. I recognise now that I was trying to communicate and reconnect with him, the people around me, and the emotions I was feeling, which I couldn’t quite express with words at the time.”

As a firm advocate in the democracy and accessibility of the arts, and interconnectedness through the experience of music, art and technology, Guy intentionally draws upon a minimal set-up of a computer, keyboard, speakers, headphones and his immediate environment and surrounding non-studio locations to create the sound world on Permanence. An approach that Guy believes can be replicated by those willing, with a minimal barrier to entry, as the door leading to self-expression should be wide open and not hindered by access to equipment or tools. Each sonic texture can hold meaning to reflect changes of emotion and space, opening up the potential for introspective thoughts, which is something Guy invites, and positively encourages, those who encounter the music. This idea of encouraging listeners to engage on their own terms also extends to the process of creating the artwork. Guy commissioned Totnes based artist Jenny Frances to provide a visual, subjective response to the music. The final piece will be offered as an art print alongside the digital album release. Permanence is ultimately about creating something meaningful and positive, that can potentially be as liberating for the listener as it is for the creator.

Permanence will be released on digital platforms on September 16th. Further details on the record can be found here.

 

Photo credit: Mick Frank