Bleep

Kevin Richard Martin, perhaps best known for his work as The Bug and as a founding member of King Midas Sound, presents an arresting reinterpretation of Andrei Tarkovsky’s seminal 1972 movie Solaris, via Phantom Limb records.

In the summer of 2020, Martin was invited to the Vooruit Arts Centre in the city of Ghent with an open invitation to compose a fresh soundtrack for a film of his choosing. Solaris was a “natural choice” for Martin, having long taken inspiration from Tarkovsky’s compelling Soviet-era works. Emerging with his rendition entitled Return to Solaris, Martin uses the non-restrictive cinematic context to revive his sprawling, celebrated past in the various industrial, noise and dub realms to devastating effect.

'In Love With A Ghost’ acts as a suitable primer for the full-length album. Lulling us in with monolithic, scorched post-rave pads, the palette gradually etches towards a darker monochrome - distant industrial chimes underscored with a fierce droning intensity.

In Martin’s words, he was naturally drawn to Solaris by its "narrative struggle between organic, pastoral memories of a lost past, and the harsh, dystopian realities of a futuristic hell" - a balance which is gloriously realised in this score.