Floating Points, aka UK electronic and jazz musician Sam Shepherd, has been in dance mode with recent singles “Del Oro” and “Birth4000,” and now he’s announced a new album featuring both of those songs and the just-released “Key103,” a seven-minute single named after an underground Manchester radio station that Sam says he listened to “religiously” growing up. Titled Cascade, Sam says it’s “meant to be kind of a continuation” of his excellent 2019 dancefloor-friendly record Crush, down to the colorful album artwork (created once again by Akiko Nakayama). It arrives September 13 via Ninja Tune (pre-order).
“I have a studio at home with all the gear I usually use, but I wasn’t there so I had to use my laptop, doing it all on headphones,” Sam says of the stripped-back setup he used to make the LP. He also adds that his hometown of Manchester was an influence. “There’s something about Manchester that keeps coming back to me, and I think it’s partly to do with its record shops,” he says. “As a kid, my school was around the corner from the Northern Quarter so at lunchtimes, I’d run out of the school gates and skip lunch altogether to go and listen to records. I’m sure I was a total pain in the arse constantly pulling records off the shelves, but it was amazing. I’d be listening to Autechre at Pelican Neck, Dilla at Fat City, David Morales mixes at the Factory Records shop… It gave me a parallel education in music to what I was being taught at school.”
Check out the new song, both previous singles, album artwork, tracklist, and list of upcoming tour dates:
Tracklist
1. Vocoder (Club Mix)
2. Key103
3. Birth4000
4. Del Oro
5. Fast Forward
6. Ocotillo
7. Afflecks Palace
8. Tilt Shift
9. Ablaze
Floating Points — 2024 Tour Dates
July 12 – Lisbon, PT @ NOS Alive
July 13 – Bilbao, ES @ BBK
July 20 – Istanbul, TR – Babylon Soundgarden Festival (DJ)
July 26 – Niigata, JP @ Fuji Rock Festival
August 3 – Waterford, IE @ All Together Now
August 16 – Wimborne @ We Out Here Festival
August 23 – London @ All Points East
August 24 – Lincoln @ Lost Village Festival
August 31 – Bristol @ Forwards Festival
September 20 – Philadelphia, PA @ Making Time (DJ)
September 21 – Los Angeles, CA @ Boiler Room (DJ)
September 28 – Chicago, IL @ Warm Love Cool Dreams (DJ)
September 29 – San Francisco, CA @ Portola Festival (DJ)
October 5 – Arcosanti, AZ @ Form (DJ)
October 16 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg
November 16 – Paris, FR @ Le CENTQUATRE-PARIS
November 28 – Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg (1900-2300)
November 29 – Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg (2330-0400)