Plastic Borough

Son of Philip’s first full length release. An elegant, transportative and beguiling listen.

“It’s somewhere between broken and beautiful. Organic and synthetic. A beautiful struggle in some ways. Recorded mostly in my old studio in Nottingham and pieced together since. It’s a collection of music created without any real concept or direction – just what felt right at the time, whilst not really thinking about it too much. I guess this makes it a true reflection of my influences and music that’s inspired me over the years. I love just getting lost in hypnotic loops and sequences, but finding subtle ways to keep things moving – this album is that in a nutshell.”

Complementing three of the EP’s tracks (including the mesmerising first single ‘Infinity’) ‘are the eerie and beautiful vocals of Swedish singer Ylva Grönlund. On their meeting, Tom explains: “I heard Ylva Grönlund’s voice when we managed to persuade her to sing at a small gathering with friends and fell in love with her voice, so sent some recording equipment to Sweden for Ylva to record some vocal parts.”

On the EP’s title track, Tom is also joined by Matthew Farrell on viola da gamba (a 15th century cello), adding a majestic and cinematic undercurrent to the proceedings. The two met when working together on an opera performance with Marinella Phillips and Alex Norton back in 2021.

Throughout this heady and engaging record hypnotic, grainy textures and analogue warmth cast a heavy cloak over a sea of shifting sonics beneath. Beautifully melding fragmented synths against swirling clouds of particles, twisting and contorted sounds permeate the haze in an alluring and intoxicating blend.