Track By Track: House Of Black Lanterns – You Were Telling Me Of Mountains

House Of Black Lanterns is Berlin-based British producer Dylan Richards (aka Zilla aka King Cannibal).

In the past, Richards has put out music on such prestigious labels as Warp, Ninja Tune, Houndstooth and Hypercolour.

For new album 'You Were Telling Me Of Mountains', Richards has decided to release the record himself via Bandcamp, in order to achieve complete creative control over the project.

The album consists of eleven movements divided into two continuous parts, and rewards concentrated attention. It runs the gamut from slowmo house and jittery footwork to gorgeous Chromatics-style electronica.

Inspired as much by cutting edge dance music as it is the epic sound of Tangerine Dream, thematically the album deals with the frustrations of being a recording artist in the current climate. Stream the album below, and let Richards guide you through where his head was at while making it.

Desire

COLOUR: Midnight blue, black towerblock silhouette and amber street lamp.
SEASON: Winter, January, whilst the year is young and still full of ever reaching promise.
INSPIRATION: 'You Were Telling Me Of Mountains' has many stories, but the arch is always dealing with loss and regret. We start at the beginning, with the birth of passion and wanting. With desire.
SETTING: From the vantage point of a tall building, looking out on the city at night, feeling the wind envelop you and lights hypnotise you.

The Burning

COLOUR: Beaten leather jacket black.
SEASON:  Winter, February. A cloud of condensation rises to the sky with each exhalation.
INSPIRATION: The 1980s lone wolf. We all have to get dressed, leave and move through the city alone.
SETTING: Through clouds of dry ice in the chained-up ruins of an abandoned Italian discotheque.

The Last Wave

COLOUR: Cool aqua blue as the day pushes out of the darkness, from a grey sky to a pale blue.
SEASON: The thick of summer heatwave.
INSPIRATION: A shared experience.We rode upon huge waves, being swept past landscapes in to new locations with exciting languages that we were unfamiliar with. We didn't cry for help as we both enjoyed being tossed and turned in the ocean, instead we whispered words of admiration quietly to the great waves as they showed us new lands. Sometimes the current pushes you in the same direction. Other times you will end up oceans apart.
SETTING: Viewed moments in the last few moments free from trauma. Watching splintered driftwood churn next to discarded treasures, broken and rendered equal by the waves of the ocean.

Triumphantism

COLOUR: Wave crest white.
SEASON: This is still summer, just moving closer into its humid heights.
INSPIRATION: The joyful abandonment of a huge wave breaking, erasing dreams and memories. The movement and impact of unknown needs to be embraced.
SETTING: Down in the sea as it hits the the rocks.

I'll Be There For You

COLOUR: The late evening sky, rippling with a red hue.
SEASON: The last day of summer.
INSPIRATION: The idea that the numbness caused by such violence and turbulence can be a peaceful place to be. The most violent of waves are still to come, but you can no longer feel them. You are simply washed over. This in its current album form, is a shorter part of a much longer piece of music.
SETTING: Sat next to Will Graham, on that log on that beach.

Switchblade Sunsets

COLOUR: Campfire at waterside.
SEASON: The first signs of autumn.
INSPIRATION: Changes. The end of something so large it blocks your whole vision. You blink and when your eyes reopen it takes time for your vision to adjust.
SETTING: The last time of being beside the sea. It’s night, you watch people struggling to set chinese lanterns into the sky.

Chord Memories

COLOUR: Colour seem unimportant right now.
SEASON: Seasons seem unimportant right now.
INSPIRATION: Inspiration is impossibly unimportant right now.
SETTING: Settings seem unimportant right now.

Reckless Yesterdays

COLOUR: Deep burnt reds reserved for dead leaves and the edges of flames from a fire.
SEASON: The part of autumn where your days turn to darkness far too soon.
INSPIRATION: Before you can move forward you find it impossible to do so without looking backwards. You hardly even think of it as looking backwards, as you are tied to thinking about something that doesn’t really exist for you anymore, that just is impossible for you to actually realise.
SETTING: Walking beside a canal in the evening. What was once a busy stretch of the city where people would hang out, drink and play games, now left with fewer and fewer people. Where do they all go?

Of Heavy Hearts

COLOUR: The red, purple, blue that fills your vision during a headrush.
SEASON: Fireworks weather.
INSPIRATION: Finding yourself after losing yourself. Such a small thing can seem like such a huge planet forming experience.
SETTING: Simply looking up to the night sky.

…And We Will Run Free

COLOUR: Tomorrow.
SEASON: Tomorrow.
INSPIRATION: Tomorrow.
SETTING: Tomorrow. When it happens I'll let you know.

'You Were Telling Me Of Mountains' is out now via Bandcamp. Find House Of Black Lanterns on Facebook and Twitter.