A car park might not sound like the most inspiring of locations for a live collaboration, but it was for electronic duo Sleep D and mixed chamber ensemble Ad Lib Collective. This unusual meeting place led to an equally unusual album; Flashed Glass, which is being released via Play on Records later this month.
Sleep D & Ad Lib Collective – both coming out of Melbourne – hit it off at rehearsals for one of Play On Records’ live events, in 2018. So much so, that they scrapped their sets – choosing to perform a semi-improvised set instead. With these beginnings, they discovered philosophies and disciplines from each other that were all too exclusive to clubs and concert halls. It was from this sharing of practices and sonic visions, that their collaboration grew into more than a one off appearance.
On Flashed Glass, the duo (Sleep D) and six piece ensemble explore expansive spaces and rich tapestries of sound. Any notion of a rule book was scrapped early on; the musicians used charts and maps to notate the music, informing their audio landscapes even further. With the album’s progress being halted by Melbourne’s double lockdown, it developed into a work that none of them planned for; Flashed Glass is a combination of professional recordings and DIY home-recorded samples – where crushed plastic and pulverised seashells make an appearance.
On ‘Enclave’, a horizon of synths are layered over increasingly busying rhythms and woody percussion soaked in reverb. Sleep D and Ad Lib Collective achieve a striking marriage of ambient electronica and modern classical, held by an ambitious spacial awareness. Be it in a moment of meditation in your bedroom or on the dancefloor, Enclave provides nine minutes of blissful journeying.
Flashed Glass will be released on 21st May via Play On Records.
Stamp The Wax · Sleep D x Ad Lib Collective – Enclave (STW Premiere)
