Today’s catch comes from the Swiss-born New Yorker & electronic musician Kurt Uenala. It may not be a familiar name for many music fans, but chances are you’ve heard his work on Chillville as the front-man for the band Null + Void. The Grammy nominated producerhas collaborated with some of the finest & legendary artists like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Moby, John Grant, The Kills, Woodkid, Erasure, and most notably, Dave Gahan and Depeche Mode. As a matter of fact he will be releasing a 5 track EP called Manuscript, and will feature Dave Gahan of DM on all of the songs. Today’s catch, “G.O.D.” is the 1st single to be released from the LP, which drops on 12/16. From his YouTube page…
“Having worked in Gahan’s NYC studio for years, and traveling with Depeche Mode, Uenala became aware of one of Dave’s rituals. Sometimes a notebook and pen would come out. Something would get jotted down. But what? That remained a mystery.
Uenala now calls Iceland home, so he’s no stranger to isolation, but what about city-dweller Gahan? The two kept in close touch during lockdown, sharing thoughts and ideas.
“I always wondered what he was writing in the notebook,” Uenala says, “but I never pried. During one of our check-ins I eventually asked what he was scribbling down when he was off in some corner, or standing on his own, next to a studio window.” Gahan disclosed that they were thoughts, feelings, and observations that would likely never see the light of day.
But then again, why not? Living during a lockdown is unquestionably difficult, but fortune also favors those who are bold in challenging times. Gahan sent Uenala a recording of him reciting something from the journal. In his studio, a decommissioned hospital situated on an Icelandic Fjörd, Kurt sat in front of a classic Oberheim synth with the recording, reacting to anything from the timbre of Gahan’s voice, to background noise. Inspiration also came from ambience in the black chapel in Uenala’s town, which has often acted as a natural reverb chamber when one was needed. Songs started to take shape, through a modified form of call and response. The confluence of tone, poem, and tone poem.”
You can listen to the incredibly ambient & poetic catch of the day called “G.O.D. (ft. Dave Gahan)” by Kurt Uenela in the YouTube player below. Good things!
