Premiere: Orlando FitzGerald ‘The Endling’

Following a superb LP on one of our favourite labels, Local Action, Orlando FitzGerald has launched the New Info label with a mesmerizing ambient tape. ‘Extinction 6’ is out on 16th November and, according to its press release, is “an ethereal exploration of waste, greed and ultimately the failures of our society”.

A multidisciplinary artist and environmentalist, FitzGerald – who is including his surname for this release – has described the process behind the album as an intense one. Though full of mesmerising sound designs, fragile melodic passages and rich ambience, there is trouble coursing through its 14 tracks. Amid the lush droplets of sound and warm backdrops there is a foreboding atmosphere. It’s not quite hopeless, but it’s worn down.

"Last winter, during a period of intense mental isolation/alienation, totally consumed in the research for this album, I started to feel disconnected from humankind to an extent that I felt no-longer human,” he explained. “Instead, I felt as if I was a visiting body watching a society implode. This album presents a perspective genuinely lacking comprehension of the current state of the world and how we've let it get so far gone."

It’s morbid, jarring and all very real, but nonetheless, this album remains deeply enjoyable, with or without taking its context into account. It’s another engaging release from an understated and unique artist whose reputation is steadily, and rightfully growing.

‘The Endling’ is one of the LP’s more sombre, light tracks; one that seems to resign in its fragility and crystalline, organic sounds.  Check it out below.

Pre-order 'Extinction 6' on tape or digitally here.

Photo credit: Thérèse Rafter