None More Records are very proud to present ‘Fictions’, the third album, and debut LP for the label from Twospeak. Twospeak are band leader and saxophonist Ronan Perrett’s bold and dynamic four-piece that draw inspiration equally from the world of contemporary jazz, bands like The Bad Plus and ADHD, the early 1970’s Canterbury Scene of Soft Machine and Caravan, Hot Rats-era Zappa and Deerhoof-esque indie rock, putting this all together in a heady brew and sounding uniquely themselves. Twospeak's name is derived from the balancing act between words used to get through day-to-day life and the language of emotion, mood and storytelling humans have been expressing through music for thousands of years. That delicate balancing act is reflected in the distinctive music the group make.
Fictions is a huge step forward for the band, building on Twoism and Reflector, but really taking the band to new heights. Each song on their new album is based on a piece of non-musical art which include paintings, sculpture, literature and film. Each track is named after and aims to capture the character and mood of its original inspiration. Ronan says of the artworks used in this process “the artworks I used to make this album are connected for me with a quality which evokes an imagistic response I associate with this language of art, dreams and meaningful stories”. Whilst the process is interesting and important, it’s really capturing that emotional response and character of the works that has inspired the music Twospeak have made.
Keep The Aspidistra Flying is the first single. Built around an off-kilter groove and circling riff, the song builds and disintegrates in and out, building each time as a different member of the group stretches out. De Souza’s distorted guitar wash and Costi’s keys add an eerie atmosphere on top of the tight rhythms provided by Ben Brown. This first single draws inspiration from George Orwell’s 1936 novel of the same name. Ronan says of the novel “I related to the main character’s struggle with finding a balance between compromising on his artistic integrity, in this case as a writer, and on the resulting consequences his decisions
brought to his life.”
For Henry Moore (Reclining Figure 1984), the second single to be taken from the record, due out in October, is a charged, dissonant, energetic bomb of a tune. Brown’s flipped-out rhythm and De Souza’s razor sharp guitar drives the band rattling through changes and gear shifts as Perrett’s sax runs freely over the top. Imagine Lunch Money Life covering Trout Mask Replica and you might be somewhere close. Ronan says of the inspiration behind the song “For Henry Moore is based on a captivating sculpture of a large golden reclining figure, coincidentally created in 1984. It immediately captured my imagination as I saw it rising up and striding off to cause chaos.”
Ronan says of the writing process for this album “It’s easy to repeat yourself when you’re making music on a daily basis. I found one successful way around this was to give myself a starting point far away from where I would usually begin. Alongside this I’d began to think about how for me the most impactful art transcends the medium in which it’s expressed. I decided to bring these two ideas together by using non-musical art as a direct source for generating seeds for compositions. At the time I was studying a technique called cellular composition with the great composer and drummer John Hollenbeck, which provided a toolbox
for creating these compositions out of a small amount of musical material. These ideas all tied together quite organically and led to the music on this album.”
Born in the contemporary London jazz scene, the band features musicians from groups such as Waaju, Bryron Wallen’s Four Corners, Caravela and Dizraeli.
credits
released November 17, 2023
Twospeak is:
Ronan Perrett- Saxophone
Mike De Souza – Guitar
Joseph Costi- Keyboards, synths
Ben Brown – Drums
Alex Killpartrick – Space Echo (tracks 1,3&4)
Written and produced by Ronan Perrett.
Mixed and co-produced by Alex Killpartrick.
Mastered by Curved.
Artwork by Giulia Cavallini.
Recorded by Lloyd Haines, Alex Killpartrick and Twospeak.
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