The Avalanches have been promising a follow-up to their first (and currently only) album Since I Left You ever since it was released in late 2000. And though they still haven’t announced anything concrete, they have released a trailer for a documentary called Since They Left Us that strongly hints at new music.
In the mainstream, The Avalanches are mostly remembered for their novelty hit “Frontier Psychiatrist”, but the Australian turntablist crew have a huge cult following. Their summery tracks are made almost entirely using layered samples from dusty old vinyl records – it’s mindblowingly intricate, but there’s also a real pop sensibility at play.
Since their debut album came out though, the group have been incredibly quiet, only occasionally popping up to release a remix or perform a DJ set (they also contributed a song to a King Kong musical, for some reason). Occasionally there were stories in the press about how the band’s second album was almost finished, but nothing ever materialised, and members of the band slowly quit.
A few weeks ago, however, they made their most significant development in years: they announced a handful of live shows, including at London’s Field Day and at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound. And last night they released a trailer to a new documentary, Since They Left Us, recapping the group’s career and making light of their lack of album number two.
The trailer suggests that new music is on the way, and also features a selection of talking heads interviews with artists who’ve been rumoured to be working with The Avalanches over the years – Royal Trux’s Jennifer Herrema, Detroit rapper Danny Brown, lo-fi pop guru Ariel Pink, and Father John Misty amongst them.
There’s no release date for Since They Left Us (because this is The Avalanches we’re talking about), but watch its trailer above.
