Scottish Composer Anna Meredith Announces New Album 'DARLING'

Anna Meredith has shared plans for her new album ‘DARLING’.

The lauded composer has built a riveting catalogue, one that moves from the experimental fringes of classical music to club settings and art galleries. Anna Meredith has worked on soundtrack projects and her own studio albums, including the Mercury nominated 2019 full length ‘Fibs’.

Awarded an MBE for services to music, Anna Meredith scores upcoming feature film ‘Wicker’, starring Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård.

New album ‘DARLING’ ends a lengthy wait, and it lands on February 12th via Mercury KX. Pre-order the album here.

The album will be available to stream and download digitally, as well as physically via CD, standard vinyl and limited edition double ‘Flumps Pink’ 12″ vinyl, with the music split over three sides and an etching on side D.

In a note, Anna Meredith calls the album “a conduit for energy and joy”, adding:

“‘DARLING’ is a channelling of intensity, energy and euphoria. This is me making music to summon motion, tension and release, to push through my brain and my body at a time when my own world (and the world in general) feels overwhelming. My aim was to create a unique experience ultimately for myself but also for those I’m bringing along on this journey with me. I wanted to lean into a technicolour version of what my music can be, reaching for higher highs and greater twists and turns, and letting it sit with more confidence than ever before. The tracks are longer, bolder, wilder and simpler than anything that appears on my previous albums. I’ve thought a lot about balancing the meticulous level of detail in dense and complex music with the intention to be open, crafting a conduit for energy and joy.”

New piece ‘Dusky’ is a vivacious return, and it acts as a daring stylistic marker for the album as a whole.

Discussing the song, Anna adds:

“I’m so proud of ‘Dusky’ and the ambition and manifesto it sets out for the album. In many ways it’s 4 tracks in one, with each stage of the journey inhabiting its own identity, whilst setting up the reveals and rug pulls of the sections to follow. It’s got loads of the things that I love writing – polyrhythms, parpy brass, metric modulations, waily synths. A lot of the music was written around my desire to build towards a heavy chugging metal electric guitar riff for my amazing guitarist Jack Ross, and to work out the best way to arrive at that moment so that it feels both entirely right and utterly unexpected. It makes me whoop with the joy and silliness of it every time.”

Ewan Jones Morris combine with the composer to direct the video, and he comments: “The end result is this theatrical game of peekaboo…”