Several years ago, Faris Badwan (The Horrors/Cat’s Eyes) was in the midst of searching for producers for his solo material, when he crossed paths with renowned guitarist John Coxon (Spring Heel Jack/ Spiritualized/Treader). The creative union proved fruitful: Badwan found his work spontaneously transformed through improvisation, atmosphere and keeping things “raw and expressive.” The result is Boiling Point/Promise Land (Tough Love Records), the first release of an ongoing series of artistic collaborations with Faris Badwan.
Keeping with the Jungian theme, the second track, Promise Land, hits closer to 3-d existence on this plane, with a smidgen of wild synchronicity. He initially improvised lyrics over a drone track created with Coxon (and a cameo from his brother Harry Badwan). “Some time later, I came across To Our Land by Mahmoud Darwish, a Palestinian poet, and was struck by the similarities – there are a few lines that match really closely. Despite being half-Palestinian myself, this was a total accident and I know for sure I hadn’t seen Darwish’s piece before.” Felix culpa, indeed.
“What was interesting about it was the way the style of the designs naturally evolved as a result of having so many blank squares to fill – there’s a really clear development from start to finish – beginning with angular lines filling the sleeve and ending with smoother, more minimal abstract shapes responding to the existing sleeve design. It ended up almost like a process-based art project where you work repetitively within really strict confines and let the results emerge organically.”
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