Mercury (Vinyl)
The Range, a.k.a the Vermont-based musician and producer James Hinton, resurfaced recently with new single “Bicameral” which The FADER praised for its “tornado of breakbeats and pristine, bittersweet melodies.” The Range follows that up by announcing his first new album in six years, Mercury, out June 10th, and sharing track “Ricercar” (pronounced r-()chr-kär) along with its video, directed by Stevie Gee & Essy May and produced by Blink Ink. Essy May also provided the illustrations for the album artwork.
On Mercury, Hinton builds on the techniques he established on his critically acclaimed 2016 LP Potential, seeking to create human connection in the Internet age through sampling vocalists from the corners of YouTube, Instagram, and Periscope. “I feel like I can find ways to express myself in ways that I’m too shy or unable to do in the real world,” Hinton says of the process.
Mercury is moody, transportive, and undeniably rave-infused, and although it is indebted to IDM mainstays like Aphex Twin and grime pioneers like Skepta, the album finds Hinton pushing himself outside the constraints of any one specific genre. The result is both maximalist and restrained, huge soft synths up against cruising beats to offset the compressed vocals of his carefully chosen clips. “Mercury is my most wide-ranging album yet,” says Hinton. “My memories of rave music, grime and MPC music are playing heavily in almost every song.”
Mercury was produced by James Hinton with additional production by Damian Taylor (Bicameral, Ricercar, Relegate), mixed by Lexxx (Alex Dromgoole) except for “Relegate” which was mixed by Damian Taylor, and mastered by Dave Cooley at Elysian Masters in Los Angeles, CA.
