Last week, a mysterious 3D poster appeared in Elephant & Castle tube station depicting Aphex Twin’s iconic logo. The location was relevant, given one of the persistent legends surrounding the electronic musician is that he once lived in a bank vault beneath the Elephant & Castle roundabout.
It turned out that this was kicking off a new campaign, as similar imagery then started to appear in locations including Turin (where Aphex Twin is set to headline Club to Club festival in November), New York City, Los Angeles, and Tokyo. The posters all used 3D imagery that both blended with, and distorted, the natural background of where they went up.
The posters led to rumours that Richard D. James was gearing up to release new material, and it seems like those rumours were true. Aphex Twin’s label, Warp Records, shared a very bizarre press release on Twitter yesterday announcing the artist’s new EP, Collapse. Well, it seems to say that, anyway – it’s hard to read, given it’s filtered through the same circular 3D design that appeared on the posters.
Looking through the text, it would seem that the EP will be five tracks long, and it’s described as “a series of movements that match the speed and rhythm of cake” (the made-up drug?).
As Stereogum point out, the first airing of new material is likely to come tonight at 1.30am EDT, on the US channel Adult Swim. On their schedule, between episodes of Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Bob’s Burgers, is a five-minute piece of programming called Aphex Twin: Collapse. Interesting.
Check out the press release below.