Apr 05, 2016
Tim Shiel and Wally ‘Gotye’ de Backer have relaunched their independent record label Spirit Level with a brand new signing and release from Melbourne-based artist Braille Face.
Tim Shiel, the voice and mind behind Double J’s experimental electronic music show ‘Something More,’ and De Backer (of Gotye and The Basics) have known each other since the age of 17. Since then, they’ve collaborated together on more than 100 live shows worldwide, with Shiel stepping out from behind the radio microphone to take on the roles of multi-instrumentalist and technology producer.
The two artists launched Spirit Level in 2014 with an album and tour from American experimental pop group Zammuto. The project was then shelved, but they’re now back in business, operating from Melbourne’s converted meat locker studio made famous by Chet Faker’s recording there for Built on Glass. The label is devoted to “developing and amplifying unique creative voices”, with distribution support from Inertia. What’s in the name? According to De Backer at the time of the original launch, they went with ‘Spirit Level’ because “one day, when the money’s all gone and everyone’s deaf, we might want to shift into architecture and construction. It would also give us the means to bury the evidence.”
All jokes aside, the new label has delivered a luxurious electronic track from new signing Braille Face. “We discovered the music of Braille Face last year, while he was deeply immersed in a very ambitious private project – writing an album for every month of the year in 2015,” explained Shiel and De Backer to The Music. “We watched in awe as he wrote 100 songs in 365 days. “Glow” is one of them.” Percussion samples drift and drop as the richly textured electronic waves shimmer with carefully produced energy.
Spirit Level will release Braille Face’s debut full-length album with Inertia later this year. Keep an eye out for new releases, artists and projects on Spirit Level's Facebook page and website.
Image: Andy Hatton / Cybele Malinowski