The Avalanches

We Will Always Love You

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Building on the sample-based approach of their classic albums "Since I Left You" and "Wildflower", but stepping boldly into new terrain, "We Will Always Love You" is the new full length masterpiece from The Avalanches. Check the cover for a photo of Ann Druyan (Director of the Voyager Golden Record Project), her cosmic love story with Carl Sagan inspiring this body of work.

An exploration of the vibrational relationship between light, sound and spirit, We Will Always Love You doubles as “an exploration of the human voice” and a spiritual reckoning via the big questions “who are we really? What happens when we die?’”. So says Robbie Chater, who alongside bandmate Tony DiBlasi and collaborator Andrew Szekeres has moved beyond the party-up exuberance of The Avalanches’s youthful music to a tender, reflective sound infused with hard-earned life wisdom.

If there’s a single spark for We Will Always Love You it’s the story of the love affair between Ann Druyan and Carl Sagan: “science communicators” whose writings and TV programs brought the ever-deepening mysteries of astronomy and astrophysics to the mass audience. Chater was profoundly moved by the fact that the couple’s romance was captured and carried into space, thanks to the Voyager Interstellar Message Project. Druyan served as Creative Director in charge of curating the Golden Record: earthling music and assorted terrestrial sounds gathered for the contemplation of any alien civilisations that might be out there and be advanced enough to construct a playback system.

Originally, Druyan was set to be a presence on We Will Always Love You: a studio was booked to record her telling her own story. That never transpired, but Druyan “gave us permission to use her photo on the album cover,” says Chater. “We photographed it off a static-y television set and ran it through a spectograph to make the cover image. So that was a beautiful way that Ann could still be part of the record. We turned her into sound and back again”

Sampling remains at the core of The Avalanches sound, but alongside all of the sample ghosts, We Will Always Love You features an array of living guests who contribute vocals and lyrics: Blood Orange, Rivers Cuomo, Pink Siifu, Jamie xx, CLYPSO, Denzel Curry, Tricky, Neneh Cherry, Sampa the Great, Sananda Maitreya and Vashti Bunyan and many more exciting collaborations to be revealed over the coming months. The Avalanches’s music has always dripped with melody, but because of this expanded role for guest singers and writers, We Will Always Love You is their most song-oriented album yet.

“For us, to make the same record again, no matter how well executed, wouldn’t have been satisfying," says Chater. "We were looking to do something that would open up possibilities for the future. Take a bit of a left turn that frees us up to do whatever we want to next.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: Inspired by love, humanity, space and at least 6,000 sample-able records, 'We Will Always Love You' sees The Avalanches return in record time for a third album The album dips into hip hop, disco, house and electronica with all the warmth, wit and wanderlust we've come to expect from the Aussies.

TRACK LISTING

01. Ghost Story (feat. Orono)
02. Song For Barbara Payton
03. We Will Always Love You (feat. Blood Orange)
04. The Divine Chord (feat. MGMT & Johnny Marr)
05. Solitary Ceremonies
06. Interstellar Love (feat. Leon Bridges)
07. Ghost Story Pt. 2 (feat. Orono & Leon Bridges)
08. Reflecting Light (feat. Sananda Maitreya & Vashti Bunyan)
09. Carrier Waves
10. Oh The Sunn! (feat. Perry Farrell)
11. We Go On (feat. Cola Boyy & Mick Jones)
12. Star Song.IMG
13. Until Daylight Comes (feat. Tricky)
14. Wherever You Go (feat. Jamie Xx, Neneh Cherry & CLYPSO)
15. Music Makes Me High
16. Pink Champagne
17. Take Care In Your Dreaming (feat. Denzel Curry, Tricky & Sampa The Great)
18. Overcome
19. Gold Sky (feat. Kurt Vile)
20. Always Black (feat. Pink Siifu)
21. Dial D For Devotion (feat. Karen O)
22. Running Red Lights (feat. Rivers Cuomo & Pink Siifu)
23. Born To Lose
24. Music Is The Light (feat. Cornelius & Kelly Moran)
25. Weightless

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