Mike Lindsay - supershapes volume 1 (2024) [Hi-Res]

Mike Lindsay's debut solo album, 'supershapes volume 1'

Releases 14th June 2024 on Moshi Moshi

The first instalment in a series of records that explore “the miraculous in the mundane”, volume 1 looks widely at “everyday domestic objects, especially tables, coffee table books, and the daily rituals that shape us, heavily focusing on the majestic in the domestic”.

At first, Lindsay had thought this first solo project of his would be purely instrumental. Then he brought in multi-instrumentalist Ross Blake, bringing breathy woodwind and soft saxophones which weaved through the analogue polyrhythmic shapes. “I had also just worked with Robert Stillman on the Nick Drake cover of Saturday Sun I did with Guy Garvey,” he recalls. “Robert is an incredible saxophone player and musician. He has this beautiful thick and warm wild tone. I asked him to come in for a couple of days to bring his magic to the shapes.”

“As time went on though, I felt the songs were still missing a voice. The more they developed as instrumentals, the more I could imagine the tones of Anna B Savage. I had already worked with Anna on her album in|FLUX which was a wonderful experience. She is a true poet of the everyday emotions. Over four or five days together in my new studio in Margate, the supershapes started to come alive!”

Others came on board too, including drummer Adam Betts, who Lindsay had seen play as part of Three Trapped Tigers, Squarepusher’s Shobaleader One, and his own Colossal Squid solo drum show in Margate. “I thought perhaps he could bring something to the shapes, which of course he did, weaving in and out of the sampled objects.”

Lindsay built the foundation of 'supershapes volume 1' at his 120-year-old dining table. Inspired by his wife Lily’s MA studies in fine art, Lindsay mulled over the idea that objects have memories and their own consciousness.

“Who else sat round this perfect rectangle, with kids and hopes and friendship? / And who else smeared errant gravy off it with their fingertips?” sings Anna B Savage's on the album's third track and thematic guide "table". From an ordinary household object appears a rich seam of history and emotion, the table given its own agency, and a century’s worth of secrets…

Other influences included “contemporary productions like Foodman’s ‘Yasuragi Land’, a Japanese experimental manic scatter sample electronica artist who blows my mind. Kate NV: I love her bass sounds and twisted melodic rhythms. Also, I was listening to Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s ‘Keyboard Fantasies’” Lindsay continues.

“This record is one that I’m very proud of,” he concludes. “I hope we can turn it into an incredible live experience with all of us, even just for a few special shows. I hope that people are immersed by the record and feel the journey. I hope that they give their own table some love.”

Mike Lindsay - Synths, piano, bass, guitars, table samples, drum machine programming, mumble vocals
Anna B Savage - Vocals
Ross Blake - Clarinets, soft saxophone, bass recorder alto recorder.
Robert Stillman - Tenor saxophone
Adam Betts - Drums
Jimi Tormey – Drums ‘do what’
Lily Buchanan – vocals ‘do what’

Tracklist:
1.01 - Mike Lindsay - lie down (4:31)
1.02 - Mike Lindsay - ruins in reverse (4:28)
1.03 - Mike Lindsay - table (5:07)
1.04 - Mike Lindsay - pretender to surrender (4:55)
1.05 - Mike Lindsay - kachumber (4:17)
1.06 - Mike Lindsay - two blues (3:28)
1.07 - Mike Lindsay - it's all for you (2:43)
1.08 - Mike Lindsay - do what (4:01)
1.09 - Mike Lindsay - content (5:17)
1.10 - Mike Lindsay - i was the thief (5:02)