{"id":33053,"date":"2019-12-21T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-21T17:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=33053"},"modified":"2019-12-15T19:53:35","modified_gmt":"2019-12-16T00:53:35","slug":"alex-dowling-shares-new-single-king-of-thumbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=33053","title":{"rendered":"Alex Dowling shares new single \u2018King Of Thumbs\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Irish composer Alex Dowling has shared new single and video <em>King of Thumbs<\/em>, which is lifted from his forthcoming debut album&nbsp;\u2018Reality Rounds\u2019, due out&nbsp;January 31st, 2020&nbsp;via Carrier Records. Check out the video via YouTube below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BIRffH7Wd4I?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-CA&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018Reality Rounds\u2019 was written for four vocalists (who each use&nbsp;customized wireless controllers to manipulate their AutoTuned voices in real-time) and&nbsp;synthesizer (performed by Grammy-nominated composer\/pianist Pascal Le Bouef).The album was recorded and filmed live, and in full, at Princeton University by Four\/Ten Media.<br><br>Dowling built <em>King of Thumbs<\/em> around an imagined deck of cards that the performers recite at the beginning of this ritual. Halfway through, a startling interruption transports the listener to a new sonic environment where the choir\u2019s whistling is transformed into a flickering texture, a type of artificial birdsong. The music has echoes of Aphex Twin or Oneohtrix Point Never seen through the prism of Bjork\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Med\u00falla<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After years of experimenting with electronic vocal effects to extend the capabilities of the voice, Irish composer&nbsp;Alex Dowling&nbsp;has&nbsp;announced&nbsp;his debut album,&nbsp;\u2018Reality Rounds,\u2019&nbsp;via Carrier Records. Written for \u2018AutoTune choir\u2019, the work was performed live by four singers, each controlling their own vocal effects in real-time. The innovative use of electronics allows for a stunning array of sounds from rapid flickering textures to unusual tunings that would be impossible for a normal choir to sing. Breaths build into propulsive rhythms by imprinting amplitude modulation on the singers\u2019 voices (<em>Channeling II<\/em>) and two-voice hocketing with delayed harmonizers forms complex interlocking patterns (<em>God Rays<\/em>).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Influenced by the writings of Yuval Noah Harari,&nbsp;\u2018Reality Rounds\u2019 is a future ritual of \u2018Dataism\u2019, a new religion that worships the eternal flow of data. The performers\u2019 voices are digitally extended beyond their physical boundaries allowing them to connect with the information stream and become imbued with its spiritual presence. To begin, a form of s\u00e9ance is enacted where the performers chant symbolic playing cards in order to connect with the &#8216;Great Data Flow&#8217;. From this, streams of information cascade through the singers creating a swirling blend of thoughts from the mundane to the profound, like fragmented memories ricocheting in the subconscious. They give praise for the vast data centers that sit underground like inverted cathedrals (\u201cBless Room 48 and the Citadel in Reno\u201d in <em>Atoms<\/em>), and sing hymns for Instagram filters (&#8216;Vesper&#8217;) and the fear of isolation (<em>In Silence, In Cold<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018Reality Rounds\u2019 was recorded and filmed live at Princeton University in early 2019. The film of the performance builds on the ritualistic aspects as the singers sit in the vast darkness, huddling around a flickering \u2018digital fire\u2019. Singers control their own effects, using repurposed Bluetooth controllers concealed in their hands, eliciting a sense of magic as the underlying technology remains completely hidden. There is inherent mystery to the music as the sensuously layered harmonies emanate from the performers as if through some unseen force.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The style could be described as \u2018absurd melancholy\u2019, with obscure references and non-sequiturs weaving in amongst this deliberate, solemn ceremony. Dowling deftly combines the voice with electronics creating hybrid timbres that traverse the liminal space between organic and synthetic. The digital processes never mask the singers\u2019 fragility, always allowing a fleshy human side to offset any electronic austerity. Deep bass growls rumble underneath angelic counterpoint while rippling waves of sound morph into subtle whistling and breaths. A fascinating cross between Stockhausen\u2019s &#8216;Stimmung&#8217;, an electro-futuristic Meredith Monk, and a digitally rendered Roomful of Teeth, this work attains a rare feat \u2013 the creation of truly live, human, electronic music.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1600\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/0785B087-11CF-493F-A62F-3B1B86683F64.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024\" alt=\"Reality Rounds cover artwork\" class=\"wp-image-33055\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/0785B087-11CF-493F-A62F-3B1B86683F64.jpeg?w=1600&amp;ssl=1 1600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/0785B087-11CF-493F-A62F-3B1B86683F64.jpeg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/0785B087-11CF-493F-A62F-3B1B86683F64.jpeg?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/0785B087-11CF-493F-A62F-3B1B86683F64.jpeg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/0785B087-11CF-493F-A62F-3B1B86683F64.jpeg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/0785B087-11CF-493F-A62F-3B1B86683F64.jpeg?resize=1536%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The full album and video of\u00a0\u2018Reality Rounds\u2019\u00a0will be released digitally and on CD\u00a0January 31st, 2020\u00a0via Carrier Records.\u00a0Preorder the album here:<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/alexdowling.bandcamp.com\/album\/reality-rounds\" target=\"_blank\"> alexdowling.bandcamp.com\/album\/reality-rounds<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Irish composer Alex Dowling has shared new single and video King of Thumbs, which is lifted from his forthcoming debut album&nbsp;\u2018Reality Rounds\u2019, due out&nbsp;January 31st, <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=33053\" title=\"Alex Dowling shares new single \u2018King Of Thumbs\u2019\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33054,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"On Culture Addicts: Alex Dowling shares new single \u2018King Of Thumbs\u2019","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[13,23,28,30],"tags":[8758,8757,8759],"class_list":["post-33053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-electronic-music","category-indie","category-music","category-new-release","tag-alex-dowling","tag-king-of-thumbs","tag-reality-rounds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/55EE0B3B-4D0E-4362-A346-D8CB178D8F5A-scaled.jpeg?fit=2560%2C1657&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2B2TV-8B7","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32986,"url":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=32986","url_meta":{"origin":33053,"position":0},"title":"Swoll shares \u2018Haydee&#8217;s\u2019 official video","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"December 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Swoll have shared the official video for Haydee's, which is lifted from their sophomore album\u00a0\u2018Unwound\u2019 that\u2019s out now\u00a0via Blight Records (order). The video for\u00a0Haydee's was directed by Drew Hagelin and you can check it out via YouTube below. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3ImG_7aVBpI Swoll's Matthew Dowling says: \"Haydee's is a Mexican restaurant in Mt.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;guitar rock&quot;","block_context":{"text":"guitar rock","link":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"Swoll press photo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/92F723CC-124E-487D-A574-0400D083BF87.jpeg?fit=1100%2C656&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/92F723CC-124E-487D-A574-0400D083BF87.jpeg?fit=1100%2C656&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/92F723CC-124E-487D-A574-0400D083BF87.jpeg?fit=1100%2C656&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/92F723CC-124E-487D-A574-0400D083BF87.jpeg?fit=1100%2C656&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/92F723CC-124E-487D-A574-0400D083BF87.jpeg?fit=1100%2C656&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":28531,"url":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=28531","url_meta":{"origin":33053,"position":1},"title":"Swoll share new single &#8216;Shake&#8217;","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"March 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Washington, D.C. based band Swoll have shared their new single Shake, which is lifted from their\u00a0self-titled debut album out now via Blight Records.\u00a0Swoll is the new electronic project from Matt Dowling. 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Over\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;guitar rock&quot;","block_context":{"text":"guitar rock","link":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"SIREN SECTION","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_7199-e1771632394321.png?fit=700%2C406&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_7199-e1771632394321.png?fit=700%2C406&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_7199-e1771632394321.png?fit=700%2C406&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_7199-e1771632394321.png?fit=700%2C406&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33053"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33061,"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33053\/revisions\/33061"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}