Kurt Uenala has his fingerprints on more things than you may realize. While Null + Void, the moniker he produces under, may be new to you, it’s possible you’ve come across collaborations he’s done with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Big Pink, Shannon Funchess of Light Asylum plus, most notably, Dave Gahan and Depeche Mode. Having worked in Gahan’s NYC studio for years, and traveling with Depeche Mode, Uenala became aware of one of Dave’s rituals: sometimes a notebook and pen would come out. Something would get jotted down. But what? That remained a mystery.
Luckily, Gahan ended up recording some of his poems and sent them to Uenala. Today, Uenala announced the result of this collaboration, the Manuscript EP out now via hfn music.
Uenala now calls Iceland home, so he’s no stranger to isolation, but what about city-dweller Gahan? The two kept in close touch during lockdown, sharing thoughts and ideas.
“I always wondered what he was writing in the notebook,” Uenala 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. But then again, why not? Living during a lockdown is unquestionably difficult, but fortune also favors those who are bold in challenging times.
Gahan sent Uenala a recording of him reciting something from the journal. Both artists were pleased with the results, and agreed that the prose had more of an impact in concert with the music than it did merely existing, on paper, hidden in a notebook. Work continued, and produced a collection of recitations set to soundscapes. “Longing,” “Get Out,” “GOD,” “I Think Not,” and a piece born from the first recording Gahan sent, “Cracks Are Showing,” were completed, then assembled into the Manuscript EP.
Gahan says, “I’m not sure why, or when, exactly, I wrote these short pieces. I knew they were never to be songs. I do know that they were written when I was alone. Sometimes in a hotel room. Where? I can’t recall. Sometimes standing by the ocean, or walking the beach in winter. Sometimes on the empty streets of New York City, during the lockdown. Always whilst feeling the beauty, power, and loneliness of a world beyond me.”
Manuscript Tracklist
1. Cracks Are Showing
2. Longing
3. Get Out
4. G.O.D.
5. I Think Not
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Stella Rose, daughter of Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan, gives flight to “Angel” and “Muddled Man”
