DELAGO, MANU 'ENVIRON ME'
DELAGO, MANU - ENVIRON ME
An audio-visual journey accompanied by a collection of expertly made films, each track also represents a different element and contains its own inspired and individual concept, varying from the use of wildlife, fire and water to the manmade steel, gears, Velcro and more. Manu tells us "For many years I've been living between urban London and the Tyrolean Alps, and with my new project I wanted to create awareness for our immediate surroundings. I've had the idea for incorporating the sound of nature for a long time, but I've been on the road too much to properly dedicate time to it. With an emptied diary and being limited to more outdoor areas in order to record, we were given the opportunity to stop and consider the world around us. We had various adventurous recording sessions and video shoots: with 4 percussionists in a frozen lake, with 20 double bass players in a cut down forest, paragliding with organ pipes and many more. After being in isolation for so many months, the environment's sound became more prominent in my head and I wanted to record it in a musical way and bring it onto my album but also into concert halls on tour. My previous projects were fully acoustic and included many people. On the new album our surroundings melt with the digital age and electronic music, with highest appraisal for nature. I'm hoping that this project makes humankind appreciate and protect nature more." 'EnivronMe' opens with the experimental, industrial sounds of electricity pylons on 'Interference', which masterfully layers beats with synth, trombone, clarinet and more. On the cascading 'Liquid Hands', streams pour unpredictably over climatic IDM while follow-up 'Transformotion' builds euphorically. Manu's drumming creates the crucial backbone that runs through 'Environ Me', but it's in the eccentric details that it surprises at every turn. 'Curveball' uses the sound of Velcro to create it's artificial and kinetic atmosphere, while 'ReCycling' uses the sounds recorded from bikes to give it it's physicality. Deconstructive interval 'Autoshred' breaks down with the grinding textures of a workshop and inventive outlier 'Pattern Pulse Popcorn' sees the album at its most playful. As we shift into the second half of the record, nature becomes more prominent, with 'FaunaSauna' and 'Trees For The Wood' taking us deep into the forest. It takes a noticeably darker turn with the crackling introduction of fire in 'Emberplay', its portrayal of the most destructive element that spreads outward ominously. This eclectic and consistently thought-provoking LP simmers with its finale, the meditative 'Acoustic Aviation' and beautiful 'Footsteps', which features the soaring vocal talents of Isobel Cope. On 'Environ Me' Manu Delago asks his listener to join him on a multisensory adventure with their eyes wide open, an intriguing experience that constantly evolves over the course of its 12 tracks, through electronica and ambient, and carries with it an important environmental message at its core. Manu Delago has performed in prestigious venues in more than 50 countries around the world. The Grammy nominated artist runs his own band and has collaborated with various artists such as Björk, Anoushka Shankar and Olafur Arnalds and has appeared as a soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra.