IAMX – The Unified Field

Chris Corner, the head of IAMX describes his new album, The Unified Field, as “schizophrenic modesty incarnate”. The Unified Field is the follow-up to the universally lauded album Volatile Times. Corner’s description fits perfectly and when he says “I want it to move you, to f*** you and to dictate the psychology of your offspring”, it is again just what the album is about.

The press info tells:

At the same time primal, sensual, dangerous while also philosophical, intelligent and profound, Corner embodies a realm that connects head, heart and heavens while still being very conscious of innate rhythms and melody. The song, “The Unified Field” is a perfect example of that. “The song is based on a scientific theory rooted in quantum physics, that intends to bring together all other scientific theories and to bridge the gaps between consciousness, spirituality and science… a theory of everything so to speak,” he explains without condescension or aloofness. “I find this idea extremely powerful and exciting. It has been floating around for millennia from Taoism to Einstein but there is more science emerging recently to back it up.” While the background of the song is heady and steeped in concepts that would make Mensa blush, the song itself is an epic and expansively atmospheric track awash in echoes and space propelled by a midnight electro beat that’s equally built for a misty forest as it is for a danceclub. “This stuff keeps me awake at night with a racing heart and fired up imagination,” he continues about the song. “Some branches of quantum theory dig into the idea that consciousness pervades and creates all matter, that at the core it is what connects everything and everyone. I know all humans have this underlying nagging feeling that we are just wrapped up in a web of stuff, that particles inside us are just rearranged stardust billions of years old.”

In former days Chris Coner produced everythin on his own and independently, but for The Unified Field he has opened the door to collaborations and production assistance. He is documented the recording process of the album and revealed that Jim Abbiss (ADELE, ARCTIC MONKEYS, THE TEMPER TRAP, SNEAKER PIMPS) co-produces The Unified Field. “Working with Jim really brought out subtleties in my singing and playing that I tend to ignore by myself so we wanted to show this throughout the record with more live recording. After Volatile Times, I promised myself I would never make another album alone, so I asked Jim if he was interested in co-producing from scratch with me this time. He had just won a Grammy so he was either going to ask for a fortune or for favours. He loves me so he did it for favours. He is a star, a comrade and gentleman.”

IAMX albums are always unique and of outstanding quality and to get it even better than ever before, Chris Corner and Jum Abbiss searched for the perfect location; and found it in Berlin. “We worked over a three month period in an old, f***ed up Nazi-Bunker studio in Berlin in the summer to get most of the programming and recording done. We chose this place because the huge underground halls had incredible reverbs… like singing in a church of evil.“

The Unified Field marks the reunion of Chris Corner with Liam Howe who formed their internationally-celebrated triphop band SNEAKER PIMPS. Together they wrote great international hits as 6 Underground, Spin Spin Sugar and Sick. “Liam came to Berlin and made a cameo appearance on the record with additional synth programming on some of the songs. He was really animated about the new material and wanted to offer his input. It was very generous and it turned out beautifully. Plus, it was a nice way to work with him after all the distance. It was the first time we have actually been in the studio together since Sneaker Pimps. Old working relationships are heartwarming when you are feeling the solitude and need back up to get over the endless self-doubt.”

And so IAMX managed to create an album that can easily be called “perfect”. An album that holds back the melancholy and the fear (as sung in the song Quiet In The Mind. The Unified Field is the album of the week on NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION!

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IAMX