Marconi Union release “Blowback”

England’s Marconi Union are one of the most popular ambient groups to emerge during the early 21st century. Since debuting with Under Wires and Searchlights in 2003, their music has touched on downtempo post-rock and ambient dub techno, as well as untethered, shimmering drone. The group are best known for their 2011 composition “Weightless,” a collaboration with the British Academy of Sound Therapy designed to reduce stress. They have also collaborated with bassist Jah Wobble (on 2013 full-length Anomic) and remixed composer Max Richter.

The outfit was founded in 2003 after musicians Jamie Crossley and Richard Talbot met while working in a Manchester record store. Their self-produced debut album was issued on Ochre Records, and established the duo’s airy, guitar-driven downtempo sound. Signed in 2005 to All Saints Records, they were appointed by Brian Eno to supervise the remastering of his back catalog.

They followed with a release on All Saints, Distance, which came out in Europe in October 2005 (and then in the U.S. in February of the next year). While maintaining the post-rock guitars of their debut, this album combined them with shimmering ambient techno beats. Following label issues, Marconi Union issued A Lost Connection digitally via their own MU Transmissions in 2008. One year later, the group’s fourth album (Tokyo) appeared on their fourth label (Binemusic). The label also issued the duo’s techno-influenced Glassworks EP in 2010.

No Marconi Union returns with a new single, the expansive downtempo composition “Blowback”. A stunning explorative piece, the new single weaves and winds its way through smoky textures of guitar and synth arrangement with airy vocal lines adding colour to the soundscape. For the group, “Blowback” is both spectral and somehow comforting. Gauzy textures are laid thick throughout the track’s duration, with a contemplative drum beat taking a supporting role to the synth explorations put forth by the trio. 

Commenting on the track, Richard Talbot offers, “Blowback is an unusual track in that it’s quite cinematic with power and momentum but at the same time it’s tinted with nostalgia and an underlying sense of loss or disappointment.”

Marconi Union have offered up their introspective blend of electronics and atmosphere over the course of the discography, and there’s a certain graceful manner in how their richly melodic compositions unfold, evoking a weight and emotion through experimentation and boundary pushing.

For the first time on Signals, out November 5th on Just Music, there is a distinct propulsive nature to the proceedings that add a more rhythmic touch and wide-reaching perspective. The upcoming album combines synthetic textures with organic sound, and merges the familiar with the unknown, transporting the listener deep into their imagination. 

Listen to Blowback below

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