THE SUBJECT / THE OBJECT

Release date: 26th June 2020 (Library of Nothing Records)

Written, performed and produced by Leo Chadburn | Mastering: Leafcutter John

Press Release

Leo Chadburn’s first solo release in five years, THE SUBJECT / THE OBJECT explores an intense, individual approach to drone and minimal music, in which voice and language become sound-sculpture.

The album comprises two 20-minute long tracks. THE SUBJECT is a labyrinthine stream of consciousness, a breathless monologue, in which words seem to dissolve into noise; THE OBJECT is a monolithic "choir" of the composer’s vocals.

The two tracks are intended as shadows of one another, the night and day of the same idea: music as object, always the same, giving the illusion of existing in space more than existing in time. The album also reflects Chadburn’s concept of music as a form of self-portraiture, with the idiosyncrasies and imperfections of his voice becoming the surface of the music.

THE SUBJECT uses vocal recordings, spring drums and synthesisers by Vermona; THE OBJECT uses only vocal recordings. The album is a digital release on Bandcamp and across all streaming/download stores, and a limited edition on cassette.

Press for "The Subject / The Object"...

...It's like a journey through a burning brain, throwing out imagery so willy nilly that the words disappear entirely, a life flashing before one’s eyes. Behind Chadburn's voice, soft, deep and distant synthetic bass tones shimmer leeringly around the edges of the field.

The other 20-minute vocal piece – 'The Object' – does away with words entirely and is made up of a vast choir of Chadburns ooh-ing and aaah-ing, fading seamlessly into and out of each other to the point that no border is discernible for the entire running time. It's a vast blast of breath from the artist, collected up and whizzed together from pebbles into a vast monolith of his very essence.

(Tristan Bath, The Quietus)