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Out Now: "Manuscript" EP by Kurt Uenala feat. Dave Gahan

“I always wondered what he was writing in the notebook,” Kurt Uenala, also known under the moniker Null + Void, says “but I never pried. During one of our check-ins I eventually asked what he was scribbling down when he was off in some corner, or standing on his own, next to a studio window.” Gahan disclosed that they were thoughts, feelings, and observations that would likely never see the light of day.

Eventually, Gahan sent Uenala a recording of him reciting something from the journal. Uenala then sat in front of a classic Oberheim synth with the recording, reacting to anything from the timbre of Gahan’s voice, to background noise. Inspiration also came from ambience in the black chapel in Uenala’s town, which has often acted as a natural reverb chamber when one was needed. Songs started to take shape, through a modified form of call and response. The confluence of tone, poem, and tone poem.

Both artists were pleased with the results, and agreed that the prose had more of an impact in concert with the music. Work continued, and produced a collection of recitations set to soundscapes. “Longing,” “Get Out,” “G.O.D,” “I Think Not,” and a piece born from the first recording Gahan sent, “Cracks Are Showing,” were completed, then assembled as the Manuscript EP, which was released on 16th December 2022.