Before he was a globe-trotting, Coachella-headlining DJ that went viral for mixing Smells Like Teen Spirit with one of the filthiest tracks you've ever heard, Kieran Hebden was best known for pioneering a folksy, atmospheric brand of indie electronica.
His career arc may seem like an unlikely one, but the artist better known as Four Tet is a man of varied talents and diverse tastes. No surprise, then, that Hebden has teamed up with William Tyler for his next project, a "cosmic country" guitarist and composer best known for recording instrumentals that frame his virtuosic playing with ambient electronics.
Following a two-track EP released in 2023, Hebden and Tyler have recorded an album: 41 Longfield Street Late ‘80s is due out September 19 on Temporary Residence Ltd. They've also shared the opening track from the record, an instrumental cover of Lyle Lovett's 1987 song If I Had A Boat.
Patiently unfolding over 11 minutes, the track journeys through ethereal waves of feedback, fingerpicked acoustic guitar and bubbling modular synths, giving us a glimpse of what to expect from the forthcoming seven-track collaboration.
In a statement, Hebden pinpoints post-rock legends Godspeed You! Black Emperor and experimental electronic artist Fennesz as inspirations for the project, but says that the duo's primary influence was '80s American country and folk music.
"My father was a huge fan of this sound and through my teenage years I heard this music most days and was taken to see loads of performances," he says. "The guitar player David Grissom made a huge impact on me as a kid learning to play. It’s not an influence that I usually mention but it’s in there more than I realize and must have helped me develop my sound and ideas."
"It turns out that William’s father was working in Nashville as a songwriter during this period and actually knew people like David Grissom. So William had grown up with this music as well and knew all the stuff that I was talking about and we both felt that it had shaped our styles."
"We bonded over a mutual love of a lot of late ‘90s post-rock and such, but I have to admit I was kinda shocked (in the best way) that [Hebden] was so versed in ‘80s Americana," Tyler adds.
"Not so much my world, but definitely a world I grew up around. I never thought that a connection with someone like Kieran would end up coming down to both of our dads and their mutual love of a certain kind of music. I grew up in Nashville, he grew up in London. But we heard things the same way, I think."
Hebden recalls meeting Tyler in 2013 at Bonnaroo Festival and says the pair kept in touch and frequently discussed working together on a collaborative project.
"We first tried it remotely, sending ideas back and forth, which resulted in our 12” release, Darkness, Darkness. The plan was to get into a studio together, which we managed in early 2022 in Los Angeles at Sargent Recorders where my friend Sam [Floating Points] had just made his album with Pharoah Sanders."
Hebden says that he and Tyler recorded guitars together in the studio, exploring "styles and sounds" from their shared interest in '80s country and folk. "Then I’d take it all home to my computer and bring it into my other world," he says.
"A cover of the Lyle Lovett song If I Had a Boat was the most literal pull from this ‘80s country sound. We also recorded long improvisations around chords, patterns and tones from songs we remember from growing up. The Lyle Lovett cover ended up over 11 minutes long.
"I spent almost two years doing the computer bit of the album and sometimes sent stuff back over to William who added more overdubs and ideas in response," Hebden continues.
"On some tracks, all that’s left of the guitars are digital fragments of sound making rhythmic textures. Taking it slowly allowed us to create a new sound out of this shared teenage experience and gift from our fathers.”
Pre-order Kieran Hebden & William Tyler's 41 Longfield Street Late ‘80s.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.