THE FORMER TANGERINE DREAM MEMBER AND SOUNDTRACK COMPOSER FOLLOWS UP
LAST YEAR’S ‘EXIT GHOST’ WITH NEW ALBUM ‘EXIT GHOST II’ OUT 18TH JUNE.
Following the critically acclaimed ‘Exit Ghost’ released last year, the former member of the legendary Tangerine Dream and composer, Paul Haslinger returns with new album ‘Exit Ghost II’ set for release on 18th June on Artificial Instinct.
A new album born out of an incessant need to escape the trauma that has gripped the world for the last year coupled with an urge to complement the introspective and moody atmospherics of his last record, ‘Exit Ghost II’ is the counter-element which closes the circle.
In the tradition of minimalist masters Steve Reich and Philip Glass, ‘Meristematic’ began life as an experiment. Haslinger began building from pre-existing fragments of sound combining string loops with newly drawn up string parts. Here the divided cells came together and took on a new form as ‘Meristematic’.
Drawn to fragments in their varying forms, the vocal led ‘Marienbad’ was inspired by the intrinsic incomplete nature of how humans store their memories, the broken links and Alain Resnais’ film ‘Last Year at Marienbad’.
A euphoric celebration of life based on a 7/8 pattern, ‘Septuagint’ is a more playful track that features co-conspiratorial additions from film score composer and sound designer Charlie Campagna (‘Iron Man 3’, 2009’s ‘Star Trek’, ‘Blade Runner 2049’). It was written in protest to the dark happenings in the world and the musician’s refusal to be pulled into the vortex.
Coupled with ‘Septuagint’, ‘Mishkin’ takes inspiration from the title figure of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s ‘The Idiot’. A delicate uplifting arrangement that’s more lyrical the composition is dedicated to the character’s embrace of the impossible – he’s the relatable dreamer who fails and the holy fool who’s stubbornly illogical.
“Through understated arrangements, ambient undercurrents and electronic shading [Haslinger] manages to draw a range of dramatic implications out of his introspection.” The Wire
‘Exit Ghost II’ is Paul Haslinger’s quest for arrival after a year lost at sea.
“INTIMATE NEO-CLASSICAL WORK MAINLY CENTRED AROUND PATIENT, CONSIDERED GRAND PIANO MELODIES”
