TO CALL Oliver Coates a cellist tells you nothing at all. Oliver Coates is a musician whose work connects the circuits at the edge of dance and classical worlds. It’s not crossover, it’s not fusion, it’s experimental, rewiring sounds in a dangerous and delectable way (ask Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood) … and yes, he plays the cello.
His earlier solo work, Upsetting (2016) and Shelley Zenn-La (2018) have propelled him into the Warp arena of beat-driven electronica with loops and layers of strings treated beyond their quivering comfort zone.
Now Coates has a new album lurking over the horizon, skins n slime, which will be released via RVNG international on October 16th.
The signs are that with this new record he has shifted the setting away from imaginary techno dens to the open air, to a landscape however damaged and wasted.
“Honey”, the second preview track from skins n slime, signposts what to expect from this new soundscape. In place of dance sensibility there is a slower, beatless vibe, waves of surging modulated cello with the emotive swell of Phaedra-era Tangerine Dream.
With a drone foundation and a melodic prowl, “Honey” circles around the centre of something. It’s meditative, moving and rooted in the outside. On this evidence, skins n slime will be a force of nature to be reckoned with.
Oliver Coates’ skins n slime will be released by RVNG International on digital, very limited CD, and vinyl formats on October 26th; pre-order yours now from Oliver’s Bandcamp page.
