Ryuichi Sakamoto, Laurie Spiegel, Lafawndah & more announce 6.5 minute long album

Music

As a statement on how we, as consumers, engage with music in the 21st century, ‘PRSNT’ brings together some of the world’s most vital electronic musicians for an album that lasts just 6 minutes and 32 seconds.

A unique project, spearheaded by Created By Us and the Barcelona-based label Modern Obscure Music, the release features contributions from the likes of Ryuichi Sakamoto, Laurie Spiegel, Lafawndah, Lyra Pramuk, Lucrecia Dalt and Visible Cloaks, each of which equate to approximately 32 seconds long.

The idea for the project was inspired by a study which identified that the overwhelming volume of instantly accessible information online is shortening attention spans and altering how audiences engage with music digitally. Not only that, they then discovered that around a third of all listeners using digital platforms skip to the next track, within the first 30 seconds of playing.

In PRSNT’s own words: “The society of today: caught in a chaotic, frenzied spiral of a new addiction. People are chasing money, power, success and a wilder, faster pace of life. Just like any addiction, people are out of control, yet they believe they are normal.

Researchers note that this push for speed is changing the way people think. The need for efficiency and instant pleasure leads to a dumbing down of information intake so that people become scanners and ‘decoders’ of information, cruising across the screen to pick up bytes, rather than delving towards a deeper understanding.

The medium is changing the message. And attention spans are getting shorter and shorter every year. We live in a time where people consume fast without paying real attention to anything. We live in the fast lane.”

Tracklist
1. Laurie Spiegel – ‘Fly By’
2. Pedro Vian & Pierre Bastien – ‘Memory’
3. Lyra Pramuk – ‘CAGE’
4. Chassol – ‘YA!’
5. Nicolas Godin & Pierre Rousseau – ‘Page Turner’
6. Pascal Comelade – ‘Segons com’
7. Visible Cloaks – ‘Lifeworld’
8. Raül Refree – ‘Vid2020’
9. Lucrecia Dalt – ‘Cosa’
10. Kelman Duran – ‘Dead Cat’
11. Lafawndah – ‘From Name-less City’
12. Ryuichi Sakamoto – ‘Silence’

Proceeds from ‘PRSNT’ will be donated to a mental health charity to help fund the fight against the real-life impacts of excessive overconsuming and digital addictions.