Tags
Album, CD, Home Normal, Music
My new album ‘Södermalm In Autumn’ is out now on Home Normal.
‘Södermalm In Autumn’ was recorded during Wil’s second artist residency at EMS (Elektronmusikstudion) in Stockholm. Each track was patched and recorded in a single day on the studio’s vintage Buchla 200 modular synthesizer and AKG spring reverb.
Evolving melodic sequences, drones and glitchy looping delay effects are blended with environmental sounds recorded around the area where the studio is based, fed through the Buchla’s bandpass filters and spectral processor.
Thanks again to Ian Hawgood for releasing this and for the fantastic mastering and to my partner Soo for the lovely photography. And a massive thanks to everyone at EMS for the opportunity to record there.
Credits
Released by Home Normal on limited CD and download, 6 October 2023
All sounds recorded during a residency at EMS (Elektronmusikstudion) in Stockholm, 26-30 October 2020, using Buchla 200 modular synthesizer, AKG BX20 spring reverb and field recordings.
Written and recorded by Wil Bolton
Cover art by Soo Lee
Mastered by Ian Hawgood
Reviews
“These patient, organic modular synth works were recorded during Wil Bolton’s second artist residency at EMS in Stockholm.” – Bandcamp ‘New and Notable’
“Wil Bolton is a London-based musician who holds a discography of over 35 albums released solo, or in collaboration with other artists such as Ian Hawgood (run the fine ambient Home Normal label), Francis Gri and Joseph Auer.
Bolton uses guitars, acoustic instruments, vintage keyboards and effects to create warm, hypnotic music involving ambient sounds.
‘Södermalm In Autumn’ and ‘Red to Orange, Blue to Black’ are the result of the second artistic residency he held for two weeks at the legendary EMS (Elektronmusikstudion) in Stockholm, using their classic Buchla and Serge modular synthesizers. Both albums are released on Home Normal.
‘Södermalm In Autumn’ is an album consisting of four long-form tracks in which sequences are wrapped in a myriad of beautiful tones created in the configuration of patches, along with drones and glitches that splash throughout the four tracks.
Wil Bolton deftly carries out work with delicate parsimony, where sounds expand, building a cozy and immersive atmosphere.” – Loop
Wil Bolton 
Dear Wil Bolton,
We’ve much enjoyed listening to this record the last couple of months – courtesy of a recommendation from Norman Records – and especially the closing track. Truly magical. Forgive the nerdiness, but you seem to have found a space somewhere between Pan American and Craven Faults [but a wonderfully good somewhere: a sort of organic, expansively lyrical, vintage machine music]. Anyway, a warm thank you from the both of us.
Best wishes,
Stephen and Candy