Adam Wiltzie (Stars of the Lid) announces collab LP with Jóhann Jóhannsson

The record sees Wiltzie complete a decade-old collaboration with the much missed Jóhannsson, with additional contributions from acclaimed Canadian electronic musician Tim Hecker, the influential late producer Steve Albini and Grammy Award winning engineer Francesco Donadello. The product of a longstanding friendship between the legendary ambient drone artist and the award-winning composer, the 10-track LP stems from the pair’s numerous 2013-17 studio sessions for Jóhannsson’s scores of the 2014 Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything (for which Jóhann won a Golden Globe) and director Dennis Villeneuve’s 2017 sci-fi thriller Arrival (for which he garnered an Academy Award nomination). Jóhannsson tragically passed away in 2018.

Wiltzie speaks beautifully about the background of the album: “Our friendship is the story here, that one half of the duo is not around anymore, that he was a good friend of mine, and I’m still dealing with his loss. At the same time, it feels great to be finishing this music. Because you can feel Jóhann’s presence. It’s this living, breathing thing, a beautiful reminder. The quintessentially most perfect and beautiful thing about collaboration is that it’s something you could never do by yourself. It’s as simple as that. Jóhann’s not there anymore, but this artifact we created together, is alive and it’s incredible. I could never have done it without him.”

‘Friendship Survival Guide‘ is out 18th September on Deutsche Grammophon. The album will have a visual companion in the form of a three-chapter short film by Belgian director Jonas Govaerts, due to air in its entirety on release date. Starring Wiltzie and the actor Jeroen Percevall (Bullhead), the film is described as ‘a metaphysical nocturnal taxi ride with scenes shot in a Gent studio and a train station in Muizen‘. The first instalment can be viewed below, alongside the album artwork and tracklisting.

More info on the album HERE.

Tracklisting

01 September Nineteen Sixty Nine
02 Dazed And Reflective Glory (Pt. 1)
03 Dazed And Reflective Glory (Pt. 2)
04 Mourners Will Be Outcast
05 Exceptional Proportions
06 Give Into Gravity
07 White Gloves and Turtlenecks
08 Soft Favourites
09 In Ever Decreasing Circles
10 Where You Are Now, Voyager