David Torn announces first solo album in over a decade, now i imagine a place not the same

now i imagine a place not the same arrives as a "rare late-career statement" from Torn, who has spent decades exploring the possibilities of electric guitar through his work in in experimental music, improvisation, and film. “now i imagine a place not the same” arrives as the first introduction to the new collection of songs, offering a look into the immersive listening experience that he has created.

Speaking about the song, Torn says: “Sitting on a globe alone in complete darkness, I’m suddenly shaken to wake to the crackling struggle of The Gazillion Things, bold-facing reality as unreality; “flash!!!”, and then I be somehow compelled to nose-dive into a threateningly strange stream of no-thing… nothing. And I’m gone, gone to where there is no time, no predictions of pulse, until…

"…my hearing returns to me first and only, I hear an impossibly distant song sung in voices of liquids, rising and falling and creeping and retreating as if tidal: so? So, somehow I begin to fall-as-if-pushed through dimension and undimension, and - once again, I sit alone - but this darkness is irregular & sparkling and ineffably “complete”, and as I relax into its cooling oxygen & warm heart, I imagine I’m looking directly into the face of the blue hero of ancient myth.”

Recorded by Randall Dunn and Chris Bittner, then mixed and produced by Dunn, immediacy and physical presence were prioritised in the sessions. Speaking about the process, Torn explains: “My approach to these peri-composerly improvisations was pretty basic: everything in my view, grasp, and reach became an instrument for tone and feeling. Strings, pickups, electronics, the amplifiers, even a stone or two — anything could enter the music. Sometimes a sound would appear suddenly; sometimes an accident or interruption would open the door. The important thing was trusting that shape and feeling would emerge, and following it until the music revealed itself whole.”

The physical edition includes original paintings by illustrator Arik Roper across the front cover, gatefold interior and a commissioned portrait of Torn. Stephen O’Malley of Sunn O))) contributes a concrete poem, while Dunn provides liner notes reflecting on the recording sessions.

Ahead of the album's release, Torn is also set to support Sunn O))) for a special live performance at Town Hall, New York on 12 April. He is also set to perform a solo show at Roulette, New York on 24 June in celebration of Kou Records.

now i imagine a place not the same artwork

now i imagine a place not the same tracklist

“ice-shock cold of illusion”
“shapes of newborn warming stars”
“the red door #1”
“its own dimension”
“within dimension behind dimension”
“inconclusive”
“the road (past the beehive) to the river”
“when the birds flock ‘round my head”
“gold and its oxide”
“bones of home, fly east…”
“the (once green) red door #2”