Bleep

Press Release

The organic minimalism of composer and producer Kirk Barley is collected on his new studio album Marionette, released 24th November via Odda Recordings. Marionette is released in a limited edition of 500

Whether drawing from field recordings, found sound, instrumental improvisations or synthetic processes, Barley’s compositions evoke unfolding sound worlds, as simple ideas or motifs are layered and developed into complex set-pieces that reveal themselves over time. Marionette showcases the breadth and variety of the Yorkshire-born artist’s sound, weaving together familiar and uncanny moods of rural England and its Victorian architecture, as suggested by the gated garden print of the album’s cover. Unfurling between physical textures – the patina of vinyl crackle or gentle rain – and the hyper-real spaces that his music inhabits, Barley describes the compositions as “landscape or static scene paintings,” with many of the album’s tracks taking nature’s rhythms as their compositional cue. Under his own name, Barley released his debut album Landscapes in 2019 on 33-33 Records and received support from the likes of NTS Radio and BBC 6 Music’s Tom Ravenscroft and Gilles Peterson. Drawing from jazz, minimalism and techno, Barley focuses on the detailed qualities of sound, experimenting with time signatures, temporals and tuning systems. His esoteric alter-ego Bambooman (2013-2018) found a home on Matthew Herbert’s Accidental imprint, releasing the album Whispers in 2017. Under the pseudonym Church Andrews, he produces synthetic, often beat focussed music, using digital synthesis and algorithmic composition techniques. Most notably in collaboration with drummer Matt Davies, a project in which the live drum performances trigger and modulate Barley’s synths. Church Andrews and Matt Davies have performed sessions for Fact Magazine, Worldwide FM and Slate & Ash. Barley has performed at events across the UK and Europe alongside the likes of Andy Stott, Beatrice Dillon, Jan Jelinek, MF DOOM and Madlib. He has also completed commissioned work for the British Art Show, Camden Arts Centre, MSCTY and the Open Music Archive.