Sonic Boom, solo project of Peter Kember, has announced his new solo LP ‘All Things Being Equal,’ which will be out June 5th via Carpark Records. The album is the first Sonic Boom LP since 1990’s LP ‘Spectrum’. As an early taster, the LP’s single and music video Just Imagine, is out now.
Hypnotic and enchanting, Just Imagine brings Sonic Booms distinct sound into the 21st century. Over the vivid, calculating arps of opener Just Imagine, Kember nudges listeners to do as the title suggests and invites us to sink into its daydreams.
Watch the video clip for Just Imagine via YouTube below.
The accompanying video, directed by Nuno Jardim, brings the song’s soulful psychedelia to life in visuals resembling an electronic aurora borealis. As these vibrant lights whirl and overlap, they eventually take the form of Kember. He becomes the viewer’s guide of sorts, transporting them through storm clouds and deep water until the whole world dissolves, putting them back where they started but with a new sense of peace.
‘All Things Being Equal’ updates the Sonic Boom discography with a second solo LP, and a first for Carpark Records – home to several artists Kember has produced and mixed for in the past.
The songs began as instrumental studio sketches in Rugby, UK.
“I wanted to get out of the urban commercialised environment,” Kember explains of his move to a national park in Sintra, Portugal, which he calls “an enchanting area famous for being inspiring.”
Preorder ‘All Things Being Equal’ here
His new surroundings inspired the album’s lyrics, which stress humanity’s role in our planet’s survival and continuance at this “critical cross-road,” redress the power of our symbiotic relationship with nature and plants, and riddle over Animist spirituality. Wonderfully layered, drone-based voyages coalesce into hooky showcases for the intrinsic characters of the synths he worked with.
“Certain instruments have something about their sound that touches me deeply,” says Kember, “and I’m always trying to focus as much vibe as I can into the songs.”
Although the album shares a project name with his first solo album, Kember’s decades as a forward-thinking producer make this new work more in step with his cutting-edge collaborations than a nostalgic glance at his past. “I learn from everyone I work with, and I wanted to bring what I learnt into this record,” Kember explains. “Everybody thinks about and listens to music in different ways.”
With ‘All Things Being Equal,’ Sonic Boom once again offers us a new way to listen, with music that is textural, full of dimension, and conscious of its place in the galaxy. $1 from every album sold will be donated to environmental advocacy organization Earth Island.
