Aphex Twin announces new EP, shares first track ‘Blackbox Life Recorder 21f’

Aphex Twin has announced a new EP, ‘Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / in a room7 F760’ – pre-order on vinyl or pre-save here.

The first single, ‘Blackbox Life Recorder 21f’, is out now, which you can check out below along with the EP tracklist and artwork designed by Weirdcore.

The four-track project is out July 28 via Warp Records and will be the first new music from the producer and DJ in five years.

The new music follows Aphex Twin’s cryptic teasers earlier this year that suggested he would be making his return at Field Day 2023 this summer, before he was confirmed as a headliner along with Bonobo.

Aphex Twin has not released a full-length album since 2014’s ‘Syro’, with his recent activities often based around new technologies instead.

2021 saw Aphex Twin announce that he was teaming up with the British tech company ODDSound to deliver a pioneering new synth plugin. The producer worked under his birth name Richard D. James for the MTS-ESP plugin, which is capable of becoming the master tuning device for synth set-ups.

In 2022, he then launched a new sample matching app called ‘Samplebrain’.

The ‘Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / in a room7 F760’ tracklist is: 

1. ‘Blackbox Life Recorder 21f’
2. ‘zin2 test5’
3. ‘In a Room7 F760’
4. ‘Blackbox Life Recorder 21f [Parallax Mix]’

Last week, the musician performed at Sónar Barcelona 2023. A post from the Aphex Twin’s Twitter told fans to “LOOK OUT FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL IN SONAR +D PROJECT AREA AND AT THE MERCH DESK.”

As per Pitchfork, posters with QR codes were then reportedly put up in Los Angeles yesterday (June 20), which linked to an augmented reality app called YXBoZXh0d2lu. When the QR codes were scanned with the app, music and an animation played.

Earlier this year, Aphex Twin launched a cryptic new website which teased his performance at the 2023 edition of Field Day. A new website titled 190823.co.uk appeared online – the date coinciding with this year’s festival – with Aphex Twin’s iconic logo attached.

Aphex Twin is now set to headline nine festivals this summer. Find the full schedule below.

JUNE 

9 – Syd For Solen, Copenhagen, DK
10 – Rosendal Garden Party, Stockholm, SE
11 – Best Kept Secret, Hilvarenbeek, NL
16 – June Sonar, Barcelona, ES
14 – July Castello Scaligero, Verona, IT
16 – July Dour Festival, Dour, BE
19 – Aug Field Day, London, UK

SEPTEMBER
1 – Sep Kalorama Festival, Lisbon, PT
3 – Sep Forwards Festival, Bristol, UK

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