Posted on: August 6, 2015 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Will Archer, AKA Slime, has today shared a final glimpse of his forthcoming debut album Company, out August 14th. ‘At Sea Again’ sees Archer team up with Selah Sue. Hugely successful in her native Belgium and France, Sue’s vocals are usually found in less adventurous settings but under Archer’s guidance they become a transcendental, ghostly choir of one amidst chiming strings, clamorous percussion and a beautiful horn section – another example of his audacious and inventive composition and production prowess.

Recorded over two years in between a number of behind-the-scenes collaborations, orchestral performances and the artist’s on-going education after a relocation from Archer’s native Newcastle to London, Company was brought to live in a windowless rabbit warren of a studio in Hackney where Archer spent every available waking hour amassing a staggering body of work, coming to total almost 400 tracks by the time he took them to Dilip Harris (Mount Kimbie, Micachu) for mixing in early 2014.

Slime-Companypackshot.102757

The result has an undeniable sense of intimacy, as if the listener has chanced upon a secret late-night confessional. Unlike a lot of his peers, Archer prefers not to shout, expressing very direct ideas in a soft voice. It is at times obtuse, elliptic, alien, and then suddenly melodic – which is to say, a little out of step with a lot of what else is currently around. More so, it feels borne of that same late-night ‘3am spiritual’ culture that defined late 90s electronica/instrumental hip-hop, music that was deeply personal and private, that was often hidden from the light but found a voice regardless. Archer knows there’s power in silence and restraint, because you need to lean closer to hear.

Company will be available on CD, LP, Deluxe LP, and digitally. The Deluxe LP is heavyweight coloured, off white vinyl and comes with a bonus CD-R mixtape of original material by Slime.

Company Tracklisting

1. Thurible
2. Striding Edge
3. Hot Dog
4. My Company
5. In One Year
6. Symptoms
7. The Way of Asprilla
8. At Sea Again Ft. Selah Sue
9. Patricia’s Stories Ft. Jeremiah Jae
10. Down and Tell

Leave a Comment