Equal parts dramatic and dreamy, with a suitably ethereal and cosmic video to accompany it, ’And We Shall Never Know’ is taken from ‘The Dream Extortionists’, the debut solo album by East London based musician Ian Williams, which will be released in late March 2019.
Recorded between 2005 and 2017 on a 1904 Steinway baby grand in the French village of Cogny, an 1899 Blüthner at Studio Slaughterback in London and an unknown, earthquake-tuned piano at the Ice Cream Studio in Tokyo, the album is a dark and disturbing trip through the decaying and decadent last days of human civilisation, in an overpopulated world where nothing works, nobody is content, and the masses are controlled by a handful of billionaires intent solely on not sharing their dubiously acquired wealth, along with a smaller handful of high-tech megacorps intent solely on owning, tracking, watching and manipulating everything we do - The Dream Extortionists.
Some tracks feature the piano as a simple solo instrument, but often it is heavily processed and accompanied by electronic and orchestral textures, voices, and, at one point, a spaghetti-western guitar to alter the musical landscape. Melody is key, however, albeit as the melancholic soundtrack the Ballard-esque titles would suggest. In any case, it's about time that 'gothic chill-out' became a genre...
Ian Williams started out in the 1980’s as a founder of Beautiful Pea Green Boat, whose ethereal, atmospheric sound pre-dated the current vogue for dream pop. More recently, he has worked with singer Claudia Barton as Gamine, releasing two albums of dark, piano-led torch songs and lullabies. He has also collaborated with Lebanese choreographer Joumana Mourad's dance company, Ijad, during which time he produced music for several productions, developing a hybrid Arabic / classical / techno / ambient style.