Holly Herndon
On May 18th 2015, 4AD and RVNG Intl. will release Platform, the new album by American artist Holly Herndon.
Holly Herndon has become a leading light in contemporaryalternative and electronic music by fearlessly experimenting within the outer reaches of dance music and pop songwriting structures. Agalvanising statement, Platform cements Herndon’s reputation as a unique musician with a singular voice.
Born in Tennessee, but reared on music abroad, Herndon broke out from her formative years in Berlin’s minimal techno scene torepatriate to San Francisco, where she currently lives and studies as a doctoral candidate at Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA).
To achieve Platform, Herndon has opened up her process to vital artists and thinkers from her creative circle, leading by example to tackle a host of topics ranging from systemic inequality, surveillance states and neo-feudalism. Platform underscores the need for new fantasies and strategic collective action.
Among the collaborators are composer and drag performer Colin Self (vocals on ‘Unequal’), contemporary artist Spencer Longo (co-writer on ‘Locker Leak’), rogue production outfit Amnesia Scanner (co-producers of ‘An Exit’), Ensemble Dal Niente’s soprano voice Amanda DeBoer Bartlett (vocals on ‘DAO’), and Berlin Community Radio’s ASMR ambassador Claire Tolan (voice on ‘Lonely At The Top’). The ideas and influence of radical Dutch design studio Metahaven and long-time collaborator and digital DIY artist Mat Dryhurst are echoed throughout.
Herndon’s debut album Movement, released in 2012, showcased Herndon’s fascination with trance and the disjunctive sampling techniques pioneered by avant-garde composition. Subsequent singles ‘Chorus’ and ‘Home’ – rolled out in advance of Platform – humanised the laptop by celebrating its capacity for memorystorage and lamenting its vulnerability in light of revelations of mass surveillance.
Offering what Herndon describes as “a rupture, a paradisic gesture,” Platform is an optimistic breakthrough for Herndon, an appeal for progress – a step towards new ways to love.
Holly Herndon has become a leading light in contemporaryalternative and electronic music by fearlessly experimenting within the outer reaches of dance music and pop songwriting structures. Agalvanising statement, Platform cements Herndon’s reputation as a unique musician with a singular voice.
Born in Tennessee, but reared on music abroad, Herndon broke out from her formative years in Berlin’s minimal techno scene torepatriate to San Francisco, where she currently lives and studies as a doctoral candidate at Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA).
To achieve Platform, Herndon has opened up her process to vital artists and thinkers from her creative circle, leading by example to tackle a host of topics ranging from systemic inequality, surveillance states and neo-feudalism. Platform underscores the need for new fantasies and strategic collective action.
Among the collaborators are composer and drag performer Colin Self (vocals on ‘Unequal’), contemporary artist Spencer Longo (co-writer on ‘Locker Leak’), rogue production outfit Amnesia Scanner (co-producers of ‘An Exit’), Ensemble Dal Niente’s soprano voice Amanda DeBoer Bartlett (vocals on ‘DAO’), and Berlin Community Radio’s ASMR ambassador Claire Tolan (voice on ‘Lonely At The Top’). The ideas and influence of radical Dutch design studio Metahaven and long-time collaborator and digital DIY artist Mat Dryhurst are echoed throughout.
Herndon’s debut album Movement, released in 2012, showcased Herndon’s fascination with trance and the disjunctive sampling techniques pioneered by avant-garde composition. Subsequent singles ‘Chorus’ and ‘Home’ – rolled out in advance of Platform – humanised the laptop by celebrating its capacity for memorystorage and lamenting its vulnerability in light of revelations of mass surveillance.
Offering what Herndon describes as “a rupture, a paradisic gesture,” Platform is an optimistic breakthrough for Herndon, an appeal for progress – a step towards new ways to love.
