A new Aphex Twin track and app is here – but will he play Glastonbury?
The song, Blackbox Life Recorder 21f, is part of a new EP set to be released on Warp Records on 28 July
Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / in a room7 F760
Revered experimental electronic artist Aphex Twin has today revealed the first track from his first EP in five years following the launch of a mysterious augmented reality app on Tuesday.
The new track, Blackbox Life Recorder 21f, is his first since the Collapse EP in 2018. It was originally posted to the artist’s Soundcloud on Tuesday before being swiftly deleted.
Today (Wednesday 21 June), it was played on Mary Anne Hobbs’ show on BBC Radio 6 Music and we learn that it’s part of an EP, Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / in a room7 F760, which will be released on Warp Records on 28 July. You can watch the visualiser video for the track below:
The tracklist reads:
1. Blackbox Life Recorder 21f
2. zin2 test5
3. in a room7 F760
4. Blackbox Life Recorder 22 [Parallax Mix]
AFX – real name Richard D. James – has been exciting fans since he posted a rare photo with producer Arca to their Instagram on 15 June. Following this, posters displaying QR codes appeared in Los Angeles on June 20 that took fans to YXBoZXh0d2lu, an augmented reality app. The app triggers the playback of new music with an accompanying animation.
Aphex Twin at Glastonbury?
Aphex Twin is on tour right now, having performed at Sonar 2023 in Barcelona last week. He’s also set to headline Field Day in London this August.
This begs the question: with the teasing of new music so close to the opening of one of the world’s biggest and best music festivals, Glastonbury, will fans be seeing a surprise appearance at Worthy Farm this year? There’s a surprise slot just before Leftifled, for example. MusicTech hope we’re guessing correctly but, of course, no information has been revealed – yet.
In related news, an Aphex Twin superfan, 17-year-old Beau Waddell, recently wrote and published a book called Aphex Twin: Every Album, Every Song. The book charts all the music from the musician’s six albums and numerous EPs.
In 2022, Aphex Twin unveiled Samplebrain, a granular sample mashing app, offered as a free download. The app operates by fragmenting audio into interconnected sections that form a “brain” networked through similarity.
Watch Aphex Twin’s Printworks set from 2019 via YouTube.
