Floating Points announces new album ‘Cascade’

Floating Points has announced a new album ‘Cascade’, set to land on Ninja Tune this September.

The Mercury Prize nominee shared details of the forthcoming project today (9 July), alongside lead single ‘Key103’ which is out on streaming services now.

The track comes with a visualiser created by Floating Points' frequent collaborator, Tokyo-based artist Akiko Nakayama.

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According to a press release, ‘Cascade’ will see Floating Points - real name Sam Shepherd - return to his dance music roots after spending the past few years working within the experimental and classical spheres — having created his first ballet score ‘Mere Mortals’, an album with the late saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra as well as creating the score for an upcoming anime TV series on Adult Swim.

Shepherd’s last electronic project was his 2019 studio album ‘Crush’ yet he recalls “I never got to explore its ravey, experimental side live”, as his world tour was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic.

However, this upcoming album will be paired with a European live tour taking place this autumn after a bunch of summer shows at the likes of All Points East Festival, We Out Here Festival, Lost Village and more.

Local landmarks and institutions of Manchester are the main influences on each track on the album for instance his track 'Key103' is named after the underground radio station that he would “religiously” listen to whilst growing up in the area.

Shepherd shares: "There’s something about Manchester that keeps coming back to me, and I think it’s partly to do with its record shops".

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"As a kid, my school was around the corner from the Northern Quarter so at lunchtimes, I’d run out of the school gates and skip lunch altogether to go and listen to records. I’m sure I was a total pain in the arse constantly pulling records off the shelves", he says.

Shepherd adds: "But it was amazing. I’d be listening to Autechre at Pelican Neck, Dilla at Fat City, David Morales mixes at the Factory Records shop… It gave me a parallel education in music to what I was being taught at school".

The nine-track album ‘Cascade’ will be out on September 13 via Ninja Tune, pre-order it here and listen to ‘Key103’ below.

Becky Buckle is Mixmag's Multimedia Editor, follow her on Twitter