LOUIS CARNELL today announces a parting of ways from his Visionist alias and shares a vocal reworking of “
Cast,” the first material to be released under his birth name. Listen to “
Fixed is the day We’ve cast our lot”
here. Over the past decade, multi-disciplinary artist Louis Carnell’s Visionist alias has evolved from its early stages as an exploration of underground club culture – a reflection of Louis’ environment as a Londoner and an investigation of the post-internet world – to something more interrogative and personal in its manner. Louis’ willingness to be unguarded saw him at the forefront of tackling themes of anxiety and the connotations of masculinity and race.
Louis says,
“After 10 years and three albums, now is the time to part ways from Visionist. Working as Louis Carnell presents an opportunity to reinforce an understanding and connection to my work today." The decision to move forward from his alias in favor of his birth name declares an exciting new pathway in which Louis has given himself the breadth to experience freedom, a space of no distraction or compromise.
He will continue to be vulnerable, explorative, and resilient when confronted with barriers constructed because of his identity.
He notes,
“I know there will be some people saddened by this departure, and I thank you for the times shared. I've always felt it’s my duty to adapt and honour a true reflection of what I understand myself to be. I hope you continue with me on this journey.” “Fixed is the day We’ve cast our lot” is a transitional track, the first release under his birth name and the final one associated with Visionist. It is a newly recorded vocal reworking of “Cast,” one of the standout tracks from the last Visionist album,
A Call To Arms (Mute, 2021). The lyrics are in response to the passing of his beloved Granny last year and unwanted experiences of isolation.
Accompanying the track is a collaboration between Louis Carnell and theoretical sculptor David Guerrero: an AI and CGI film created with hundreds of self portraits shot by Carnell throughout lockdown. The film proposes a visual grammar in this post-Trump/Brexit moment, imagining a visual vocabulary of unity and ideological coexistence in consumer media platforms where our ideological positions (and those of our antagonists) are widely formed.
MORE ABOUT LOUIS CARNELL- Louis Carnell’s Visionist alias breakthrough was sighted around a collection of EPs titled I’m Fine. His use of a cappellas, synthesized voices and knowledge of minimalism created skeletal and ethereal compositions exploring underground club culture and dualist ideas of a real and virtual self.
- In 2012, Visionist founded the label Lost Codes which later became an imprint on PAN (2015). Upon signing his debut album to PAN, Carnell was the youngest signed artist and one of the first artists of color on the label. His curatorial foresight was pivotal in launching the careers of SD Laika, Sky H1, Kamixlo et al., and his stake in PAN created a gateway for those also chipping away at the glass ceiling.
- With trademark prescience, his albums Safe (PAN, 2015) & Value (Big Dada, 2017) saw the artist tackle themes of anxiety, masculinity and race ahead of the mainstream.
- With meticulous attention to the visual world, Visionist worked on album covers with photographer Daniel Sannwald (who went on to work with Kelela and Yves Tumor) and Peter De Potter (whose collaborative work inc. Raf Simons and Kanye West), alongside videos from CGI artist Frederik Heyman (Creator of Arca’s “Nonbinary” video) and otherworldly photographer/filmmaker Arcin Sagdic (Maison Margiela, Comme Des Garcon).
- Visionist also had a prosperous relationship with the fashion world with music included in presentations for Acne Studios, Kenzo, and Per Götesson, to name a few.
- His final album as Visionist, A Call To Arms (Mute, 2021) is seen by the artist as a transitional album, one that allowed him to venture through old pasts to create new beginnings. This was his most vulnerable record, using his voice in the form of song and lyric. The album commented on the current “dreamstate” society, in which he wanted people to stop their daily routines and start reflecting on the world around them. By building intimate settings and dystopian soundscapes, Visionist created spaces where he can place the shadows of the world’s current crises. This parting from Visionist will allow Louis Carnell to delve even further using his vast amount of sonic information.
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