Rising five-piece, Fehm, have announced a series of UK live dates alongside the release of a brand new track ‘Blue Hour’ this February, as the band build towards their debut album, set for release later in 2019. Hailing from Leeds, the quintet have quickly won praise for their startling post-punk synth-wave sound, combining influences such as Depeche Mode, Tears For Fears and Soft Cell.

Meanwhile, Fehm’s live shows to date have seen them lauded for their enthralling performances and abrasive sound palette, with the band hitting the road in support of Protomartyr, Public Access TV and Bad Breeding, headlining their own UK tour, and performing at last year’s Off The Record, Live At Leeds and Bluedot festivals.

Produced by Matt Peel at Nave Studios, Fehm’s new material is another big step forward for the group in both sound and arrangement, and new track ‘Blue Hour’ picks up on the theme of someone split down the middle who turns out to be someone you don’t know at all, as described by Paul Riddle of the band; “The blue hour is the transitional period between day and night, or light and dark if you will. This represents the overall metaphor within the song. The song is about someone being split in half, just like the blue hour, eventually falling deeper into darkness. Nothing lasts forever.”

‘Blue Hour’ is released this February 1. FEHM’s debut album will follow later in 2019 and the band will hit the road in early 2019 on the following dates;

LIVE

26 Jan – MIDDLESBROUGH – Westgarth Social Club

15 Feb – LEICESTER – Soundhaus

16 Feb – LONDON – The Lexington

21 Feb – SHEFFIELD – The Harley

28 Feb – MANCHESTER – Gullivers

01 Mar – LEEDS – Brudenell Social Club

09 Mar – GLASGOW – Broadcast

Apparat, aka Sascha Ring, has announced details of a new album, LP5, launching with the first taste of what to expect from the Berlin based artist. LP5 is Apparat’s first release since 2013’s Krieg und Frieden (Music for Theatre), and follows two studio albums, II and III (Mute / Monkeytown) by Moderat, the trio he founded with Modeselektor’s Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary.

Sublime and delicate, the album finds greatness in small things and in unexpected twists; it joins musical fragments together and glows from the cracks in between. For Ring, it is also a document of artistic insight and autonomy. "I was only able to make the record this way because Moderat exists," he says. "Having a huge stage with Moderat gave me a setting for grand gestures and meant I could unburden Apparat from these aspirations. I don't have to write big pop hymns here; I can just immerse myself in the details and the structures."

Still hymnic, LP5 doesn’t rely on dramatic gestures and theatrical amplification, instead it lives off delicately sculpted sounds crackling alongside filigree beeping and twitching. Like previous Apparat albums, the new release sees Sascha Ring collaborate with cellist Philipp Thimm and on the album you can also hear trombone, trumpet and saxophone, a harp, a double bass and other strings. Tracks were developed over endless group improvisations and lavish orchestral sessions – some of these sessions are only apparent in the final mix as fluttering echoes, just barely noticeable. The album was recorded in Berlin at AP4, JRS, Vox-Ton & Hansa Studios, mixed by Gareth Jones and Sascha Ring.

Apparat will embark on a European tour in April, with two UK dates – Brighton’s Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts on 26 April and London’s Barbican on 27 April.

LP5 TRACKLISTING

Voi_Do

Dawan

Laminar Flow

Heroist

Means Of Entry

Brandenburg

Caronte

Eq_Break

Outlier

In Gravitas