ENGRAVINGS 2025 EDITION/LIMITED

Description

The first album by Forest Swords, « Engravings », is once again available on vinyl and CD for the first time in years. Remastered by Rashad Becker, it includes previously unreleased bonus tracks exclusive to this edition. Created by electronic music producer and composer Matthew Barnes, and originally released on Tri Angle Records, « Engravings » was immediately acclaimed by critics, notably Resident Advisor, Pitchfork and The Guardian. Barnes has also presented his hypnotic live show at festivals such as Sonar, Glastonbury, Unsound and Le Guess Who.While the British electronic scene is often associated with city centers, « Engravings » was recorded in Barnes' hometown, on the banks of an ancient river in Merseyside. The album's organic and authentic atmosphere reflects the landscape and climate: silt, sandstone, forests and wind, with the reminiscences of Liverpool's pop and club history as a backdrop. This album served as a prototype for a sonic vocabulary that Barnes developed over the following years: through critically acclaimed studio albums (« Compassion » and « Bolted » via Ninja Tune), collaborations with Massive Attack and Neneh Cherry, remixes for artists like Björk, as well as commissions for video games, ballets and film scores — fields in which he has forged a career as a highly sought-after composer and sound designer. « Engravings » is a snapshot of an artist confidently defining his own language: a work that distills influences such as dub, ambient, rave, post-rock and psychedelia into a musical vision that is both ancient and futuristic, both timeless and essential.