To mark the release of fourth album Eye Contact this week, Brooklyn’s Gang Gang Dance has recorded a 4AD Session. Filmed in early April at Angelic Studios in the heart of rural England, the band convened in a purposefully built 20ft square mirrored room, surrounded by images of themselves repeated to infinity.
Inspired by the so-called ‘infinity rooms’ of the seminal Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, the construction of the space comprised most of the time allotted to recording. As a result, the session didn’t begin until midnight, and continued through until sunrise the next day. Inevitability, the twilight hours suffused the performance with a subtle darkness, which allayed with the warped environment crated by the mirrors, touched the renditions of ‘Glass Jar’ and ‘Adult Goth’ with an otherworldly quality.
With the idea to create all effects live in the space sans digital manipulation, the resulting performance channeled a raw responsiveness to the music as it was being played, as witnessed in the 15 minute take on the visceral dancehall of ‘MindKilla’ and the Balearic feel of ‘Chinese High’. Spontonaeity was key to the entire session, with the one take version of ‘MindKilla’ including an exclusive airing of previously unreleased track, ‘Kou-da-ley’, while ’Adult Goth’ segues into Japanese bonus track, ‘Bond’. The hanging crystals lent the room a prismatic quality, rendering the kaleidoscope of Eye Contact in primary colours, and helping mark the session as a true landmark in the series.
The four-song session provides a glimpse into what fans can expect on the band’s current UK tour. The band will play this weekend’s All Tomorrow’s Parties festival before headlining London’s XOYO on Monday 16th May.
Watch the 4AD Session in its entirety here:
www.4ad.com/sessions/008/
Tracklisting (Cat No: VSAD008)
1. Chinese High
2. Glass Jar
3. Adult Goth/Bond
4. MindKilla/Kou-da-ley
Credits:
Director: Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard
Director of Photography: Stuart Roweth
Camera Assistant: Warren Forster
Set Stylist: Sal Pittman
Editing and Post Production: Iain Forsyth
Recording and Mixing: Sean Maffucci
Recording Assistant: Tom Fuller, Angelic Studios
