Flaer // Preludes LP

Multi-instrumentalist/painter Flaer from London, England, will join Odda in August 2023. This is a debut record released from Records with a limited edition of 500 copies.

Contains 7 idyllic neo-classical ambient songs with cello, piano and acoustic guitar. One of seven handmade prints is included.

*If you would like a digital sound source, please feel free to contact us.

Below is a commentary by the label.

Painter and multi-instrumentalist Flaer turns to the landscape to explore pastoral melancholy on his debut album, Preludes.

painter and musicianRealf Heygate (born 1994) retired to his parents' home in the Leicestershire countryside in early 2020, picking up his childhood cello for the first time in years and starting playing.

Dedicating himself only to recording acoustic instruments such as cello, piano and acoustic guitar on four-track tape, he formed the basis for Preludes, Flaer's debut album and first release on Odda Recordings. created a series of instrumental compositions.

This mini-album draws inspiration from the analogue aesthetic of 1970s folk horror films, featuring field recordings of chirping birds, church bells, and natural surroundings.It is woven into a chimera-like melody that reflects Heygate's childhood experience of the British countryside.

"It was really important not to separate the sound from the environment," he explains, describing the composition and recording process as "site-specific."Developed through a series of intuitive musical explorations, the eerie texture of this mini-album comes from combining raw demos with epic, almost orchestral overdubs.

Heygate cites the final track as the epitome of the whole record: "Follow" is exactly the release's mantra, embodying my hands-on approach to making music.

as a painterHeygate's work deals with artifacts through a series of reproductions that embrace the fluctuating materiality of copies. Since graduating with a fine arts degree from Central Saint Martins in 2017, he has held solo exhibitions at London's Peter von Kant and Spring Season Galleries, and has worked with the Saatchi Gallery, Cobb Gallery, and the Senesi Contemporanea group. participating in the exhibition.

describe one's artistic practice as one of narcissismFor Heygate, music has become a more personal and autobiographical outlet.The impressive artwork of Preludes, which fuses these two worlds,It depicts a 13th-century stone carving of a church in the town where Heygate grew up.

Each symbol is assigned to a track on the album, telling the story of a time when people were more connected to the land.

“Adding a juxtaposition may give rise to entirely new interpretations and language that would otherwise be difficult to find,” he explains. “As time goes by, we may see that, so I am very happy that this work is being released.

As the name suggests, Preludes is just the beginning. "

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12" black vinyl. Edition of 500.

Tracklist:

1. Hew
2. The Hill
3. Groundbait
4. Forever Never
5. Landlock
6. Magnolia
7. Follow

Text by Odda Records:

"Artist and multi-instrumentalist Flaer looks to the landscape to explore pastoral melancholy on debut release, Preludes.

Ensconced in his family home in rural Leicestershire in the early months of 2020, painter and musician Realf Heygate (b. 1994) picked up his cell childhood for the first time in several years and began to play.

Setting himself parameters to only record onto a 4-track tape with acoustic instruments – cello, piano and acoustic guitar – he assembled a suite of instrumental compositions that form the basis of Preludes, his debut album as Flaer and the inaugural release on Odda Recordings.

Channeling the tension and unease between the pastoral idyll of the English countryside and the darkness which lurks beneath the surface, the mini-album draws inspiration from the analogue aesthetic of 1970s folk horror films, weaving field recordings of birdsong, church bells and the natural environment into chimerical melodies that reflect on Heygate's childhood experiences of rural England.

“It was really important not to isolate the sound from its environment,” he explains, describing the compositional and recording process as “site-specific”. musical enquiries, the mini-album's uncanny quality emerges from combining raw demo takes with overdubs of an almost orchestral grandeur.

Heygate points to the final track as indicative of the work as a whole: “'Follow' really is the mantra for the release and embodies the practical approach I was taking to music making: not to force the music but see where it takes you. ”

As a painter, Heygate's practice takes artefacts through sequences of reproduction that embrace the fluctuating materiality of the copy. Since obtaining a degree in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins in 2017, he has exhibited solo at Peter von Kant and Springseason galleries in London, and has participated in group shows at Saatchi Gallery, Cob Gallery and Senesi Contemporanea.

Describing his artistic practice as one of self-erasure, music instead provides Heygate with a more personal and autobiographical outlet. Where the two worlds combine is on Preludes' striking artwork, which features paintings of 13th century stone carvings from the font of the church in the town where he grew up.

Speaking to a time where people were connected to the land in a more profound way, each symbol is assigned to a track on the album, which Heygate likens to give them a title.

“To add that one juxtaposition might open a whole new interpretation or language that might be hard to find otherwise,” he explains. “Over time it might reveal itself to you, which is why I'm excited about it being released. them out there and see what comes of it.” 

Artist: Flaer

Label: Odda Records