Cold Specks will be releasing her second album, Neuroplasticity, on August 25 via Mute. CS’ Al Spx has been busy since 2012’s debut, I Predict A Graceful Expulsion – she leant her vocals to a pair of tracks on Moby’s Innocents album last year and she’s also part of the central maelstrom of Swans’ To Be Kind album, ‘Bring The Sun’. As such, that band’s dear leader Michael Gira returned the favour by contributing to a pair of tracks on Neuroplasticity, which Spx began working on at the tail-end of 2012, relocating to a cottage in the Somerset countryside. The latter paid into the album’s writing, as Spx explains: "’A Formal Invitation’, ‘Old Knives’ and ‘Absisto’ were essentially written there. They are the more unusual songs on the record. I may have been reflecting on my surroundings. Have you ever been to Glastonbury? It’s a pretty fucked up place."
She’s already unveiled a couple of songs, ‘Absisto’ and ‘Bodies At Bay’ (out as a single on September 1), from the album, which also features contributions from jazz trumpeter and fellow Spx collaborator Ambrose Akinmusire. Those are below, but we’ve been given a first spin of ‘A Quiet Chill’ from the record – play that above and head to the Cold Specks website for details of their upcoming UK dates, beginning with a Rough Trade East in-store on August 29 and taking in a set at End Of The Road later this month.
