We’ve been fans of Alexander Tucker’s music throughout tQ’s history, in his early solo work, via Grumbling Fur, collaborations with Charlemagne Palestine and Nik Void, and in recent years his rugged dancefloor-ready modular project Microcorps. Clear Vortex Chamber, the second album from this heavy adventure, comes out via Downwards this autumn, and features collaborators including Justin Broadrick, Karl D’Silva and Elvin Brandhi, with Tucker roping in label boss Karl ‘Regis’ O’Connor for shouty vocal duties on metallic and prangy new track ‘Zona’. (The Agnes Haus-directed video for this can be watched below).
“With Microcorps I wanted to focus on processing voices, using granular synthesis to stretch and mutate the vocals and bring it more in line with electronic nature of the tracks,” Tucker tells us, “I really enjoy the process of inviting collaborators to bring their distinct voices to the project, and hearing how they change and enhance the track.” Tucker explains that as well as releasing his work, O’Connor has been a big inspiration on the Microcorps project. “Karl was really instrumental in the development of this album – early on he gave me advice about production, structure and general encouragement,” he says, “I love his vocals with Eros and British Murder Boys and wanted him to bring his voice into the world of Clear Vortex Chamber.” O’Connor returns the praise, saying “I adore the belief at the core of Tucker’s process, so it was a pleasure to go to the studio with him and work on ‘Zona’. The balance between urgency and intimacy is what I love most about his work, and it is especially apparent on this new LP. So pleased to be releasing it on Downwards!”
The video by Agnes Haus features a faceless Tucker juddering around telecommunications masts, blazing flares, and eyes glowing through the darkness. “I have an affinity for creating art through mistakes,” says the director. “In opposition to AI, I wanted to keep this in the tangible, real and mostly-analogue world – hence filming Microcorps in Brighton on Hi-8, Mini DV, and digital camera via cathode rays. All of the manipulation was done in magnetic or primitive ways, like filming a television set or datamoshing. I had every intention of creating a narrative of Microcorps’ Lurker character, but as things mutated in the creative process, I discovered that the ‘Lurker’ just likes to watch you, make you nervous, and play with fire.” Clear Vortex Chamber is released on 19 September and can be preordered here.
