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ARTIST
TITLE
No Sound In Space (Red Vinyl)
FORMAT
LP

LABEL
CATALOG #
OF 002X-LP OF 002X-LP
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
11/15/2024

Red color vinyl version. Blake Lee has always been fascinated by the unknown, and space, in its isolating, mysterious vastness, embodies this theme immaculately. The open void, captured so memorably by Stanley Kubrick in 2001: A Space Odyssey, is Blake's far-reaching canvas on No Sound In Space, a cinematic meditation on the cosmos that's painted in nuanced, emotionally sincere colors. The Los Angeles-based composer has been contemplating his full-length debut since 2021, using his guitar as a sonic paintbrush rather than find himself snared in its traditional aesthetic constraints. Transforming its characteristics with effects and subtle processes, he layers sustained tones and intimate improvisations, creating richly visual polychromatic utopias teeming with unknown life. Since 2011, Blake has been most known for being the guitarist and a music director for Lana Del Rey, notching up three songwriting credits on her acclaimed Ultraviolence full length. He sees his solo work is a form of escapism, a place where he can experiment and find comfort and catharsis outside of expectations and formal structure. The album was written instinctively, and Blake made sure he didn't force anything, letting go and getting out of his own way, listening intently as sounds and textures materialized organically. His collaboration with Kenyan sound artist KMRU, who runs the OFNOT label and contributes to two of the tracks on the album, occurred similarly organically. Blake was moved to reach out to KMRU when he caught a performance of Natur at Los Angeles' Zebulon in 2022, leading to a prolonged back-and-forth. This is the first release on OFNOT that's not by KMRU himself; the label emerged last year with the release of KMRU's own Dissolution Grip, and Blake's debut immediately expands its sonic universe. Alongside the playlists, Blake also provided KMRU with the tracks' raw stems, which KMRU began to edit and expand in his Berlin studio. Blake is constantly searching, and fills his unoccupied space with warmth, perception and sensitivity.