It takes a composer of such incredible talent to record an album so experimental yet so instantly rewarding. Peter Broderick’s latest full-length http://www.itstartshear.com
is an absolute masterstroke in execution on so many levels it’s almost impossible to put into words.

This nack of walking the tightrope of accesibility and pushing the listener out of their comfort zone is something that the late Arthur Russell was a master at and, interestingly enough, is someone that influenced the late stages of the record’s deveopment – Broderick recalls: “At some point during the recording process I discovered Arthur Russell, and that had a huge impact on me… I think we were a bit too far into the recording for it to have a direct influence on the songs… But I had the spirit of Arthur Russell (or maybe just my imagined spirit) with me very strongly while we made the mixes and finished the album.”

The centrepiece of http://www.itstartshear.com is the majestic ‘Asleep’. An eight minute slow burning quiet triumph that saw Broderick invite contributors to get involved via MySpace and Flickr, Broderick says of the song: “I posted the words online and invited anyone and everyone to send in recordings of the words being recited. I collected recordings from all around the globe, as if this great loss could be felt by everyone, everywhere.”

Stream http://www.itstartshear.com in full below, courtesy of the good people at Bella Union. The album is released 20 February and is available to purchase via Bella Union’s official store.