Seefeel to release first new record in 14 years; London live show scheduled

Seefeel will release their first new material in 14 years through Warp Records on September 20.

The four-track Faults EP will be issued on 10″, preceded by a one-off headline live show at London’s ICA on September 16. Tickets for the gig are available here.

Following a performance at the Warp20 event in Paris last year, founding members Mark Clifford and Sarah Peacock hired two new recruits in Shigeru Ishihara (AKA DJ Scotch-Egg) and E-da (a former Boredoms drummer) before heading into the studio to work on new tracks.

Mark Clifford explains: “We always said that we wouldn’t record a new Seefeel record unless we could present something that we felt was new. When Quique was reissued a couple of years back myself and Sarah did some interviews together and we talked about recording new material. We exchanged a few ideas which were OK and things slowly got into gear but it was being asked to do the Warp20 show in Paris that really forced us to step up a couple of notches and since then, with the addition of E-da and Shige, things have developed and grown.”

Seefeel were at their most active in the 1990s, making an ethereal, amorphous music that touched upon shoegaze, ambient and techno without ever lapsing into chill-out toothlessness. The original line-up of the band featured Justin Fletcher on drums and Mark Van Hoen on bass; the latter was soon replaced by Daren Seymour, going on to pursue a solo career with releases on R&S/Apollo and Touch. Seefeel themselves have released three highly-regarded albums to date: Quique (Too Pure, 1993), Succour (Warp, 1995) and CH-VOX (Rephlex, 1996)

“Seefeel were the first band that Warp signed who had guitars,” recalls label head Steve Beckett. “They were brave to sign to us because they became the ‘older siblings’ in the family and took all the flak by breaking the unwritten rules of an (up until then) purely dance label. After 1995’s Succour they stopped performing live, but we always kept in touch and then for the first Warp20 show in Paris we asked if they would play”.

Blown away by their Paris performance, Beckett asked Seefeel to record for Warp again and they returned six months later with an album of new material. This is expected to see release in late 2010.

“Having two new members has really helped the dynamic of the band,” concludes Clifford. “There is a real dynamic, creative process that’s exciting. We are growing as a live band, adding elements of improvisation and looser structures unimaginable to us a few years back and with continued touring – I’m excited to see how we develop in that direction.”