Foundling - Fault Lines (2018)

Fault Lines is the new album from Foundling. With it’s expansive soundscapes, lush choir vocals and string sections, deep bass and broad synths, it’s indie art-pop through a dark orchestral lens. Sonically and lyrically Fault Lines traces the ridges of deep canyons and the depths of duality, explores fissures in reality and the geological time maps mirrored in our bodies.

Foundling began working on the album just after Erin Lang and Marc Stebbing (Grand Avenue) met at a New Years Eve party in Berlin. Erin had been touring for most of that year playing support for the Danish songstress Agnes Obel, and after Stebbing attended her show which Lang opened at the Berlin Philharmonie, the pair decided to combine forces and co-produce the new album together.

Both Lang and Stebbing’s symbiotic contributions play strong roles in the album which thematically delves into the nature of duality. In Fault Lines, Lang’s intimate and dreamy sound, is met with Stebbing’s strong alternative pop sensibility and tendencies to dark heavy bass and rich intricate chord choices.

The album features lush vocal layers, recalling 1930’s film music, accompanied by orchestral strings by Kristina Koropecki (Agnes Obel) and John Corban. Alongside the thread of nostalgia lies the modernity of the album in the gritty sub basses and synths. This is accentuated by electronic artist David Georgos’ (Locoto) contribution of additional synths and programming and influences of artists like Lykke Li, Fever Ray and Björk. The more mellow side of Fault Lines is inspired by 70’s RnB and the wistful soundscapes of Vincent Gallo and ‘World of Echo’ era Arthur Russell.

Working together in Stebbing’s studio in Berlin and the countryside residential studio in Devon, England where Erin made her first album, the different spaces provided atmospheric counterpoint, Berlin bringing a dark intensity to songs like the tracks ‘Fault Lines’ and ‘New Years’ and England being the home of the ambient instrumentals and the wandering Rhodes that weave the album together.