Photo credit: Paul Heartfield
“A mind-blowing experience” - 4/5* MOJO
“These ingeniously interwoven pieces, using Moogs, Mellotrons and Korgs, are a fitting sonic tribute to a great mathematical mind.” – Electronic Sound
“…ambitiously modern” – Classic Pop
“Heat Ray is a weapon of unknowable power.” - Pop Matters
Today Will Gregory Moog Ensemble, formed by the Ivor Novello-winning musician, producer and co-creator of Goldfrapp, Will Gregory, has released the Digital Deluxe edition of the debut album, Heat Ray: The Archimedes Project. The release precedes a series of live dates.
The deluxe edition, described by Will as “the soundtrack to an imaginary Archimedes biopic”, features insights from the recreational mathematician, comedian and author Matt Parker, best known for his YouTube series, Standup Maths. The nine pieces written and presented by Parker each introduce a track from the album, giving fascinating insights into the life, inventions and legacy of Archimedes, the Greek mathematician who lived and worked in the third century BC.
The album, recorded by the Moog Ensemble on analogue synthesizers, with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, has been augmented with two bonus tracks, “Heavy Logic” and “Parabolic Sleuth”.
Listen to “Parabolic Sleuth” HERE.
Listen to “Heavy Logic” HERE. Purchase or stream Heat Ray: The Archimedes Project Digital Deluxe version HERE. Purchase or stream Heat Ray: The Archimedes Project HERE.
LIVE DATES:
10/8/2024 - London, UK - The Barbican
10/9/2024 - Basingstoke, UK - The Anvil
10/10/2024 - Southampton, UK - Turner Sims
1011/2024 - Saffron Walden, UK - Saffron Hall
The album’s inspiration, which Parker expands on in his insights, arrived when Will started digging into the mathematician’s life, after watching lectures online during the pandemic lockdown. “I became a bit of a YouTube fiend. Attending all these lectures I would never normally go to on subjects I had no business to be interested in. Scratch any of these maths gurus and it turned out Archimedes was their favorite mathematician. I wanted to find out why,” he says.
Although the Will Gregory Moog Ensemble have been performing together since 2005, it took Archimedes to bring them all together to commit these spirals of melody, circular structures, sequences, and patterns to tape. The ensemble’s members, a talented bunch who have worked with the likes of Florence & the Machine and Dua Lipa, include Portishead’s Adrian Utley, a longtime collaborator of Will’s, who co-produced and plays on the album. Mute’s Daniel Miller is its “kind of executive producer”, and he even played on one of the tracks. “Given he’s been into synths right from his early days, and is a genius with them, that was a good moment”, says Will. Other ensemble members include John Baggott, Graham Fitkin, Simon Haram, Vyvyan Hope-Scott, Ross Hughes, Hazel Mills, Daniel Moore, Hinako Omori, Eddie Parker, Harriet Riley and Ruth Wall. Their instruments include Minimoog, Moog Voyager, Korg 700s, Prophet 6 and Roland JX3P, their individual lines weaving together in intricate arrangements to create a stunning superstructure of sounds.
The album has been a humbling, joyful project for the Will Gregory Moog Ensemble, and it continues to be, with Will enthusing, “I mean, the knowledge that these people had. And also, the idea that it only takes one person to absolutely leap the whole of civilization forward, take so many steps – it’s astonishing. And to think that libraries were burned, and so much knowledge was lost for millennia. It reminds us what we have to hold onto.”
Heat Ray: The Archimedes Project takes the fertile imagination and application of those incredible times, and adds an effervescent spirit of discovery to the mix, one that often crackles and sparkles when musicians are powerfully inspired to make music together. Another legacy of Archimedes’ work rises up as a consequence, an album that brings ancient history into the modern world, pushing us towards an endlessly-curious and fascinating future.
Heat Ray: The Archimedes Project Digital Deluxe edition is out now. The original version is out now on vinyl, CD and download on Mute.
Will Gregory Moog Ensemble players:
Will Gregory - Minimoog and Mellotron
Graham Fitkin - Moog Voyager
Hazel Mills - Prophet 6 and Minimoog
Ruth Wall - Korg 700s
Vyvyan Hope-Scott - Minimoog
Hinako Omori - Prophet 08, OB6 and Minimoog
Daniel Moore – Moog Sub 37 and Minimoog
Adrian Utley - Minimoog
Ross Hughes - Roland Promars Compuphonic MRS-2, Minimoog, flute and bass clarinet
Eddie Parker - Minimoog and Roland JX-3P
John Baggott - Minimoog
Simon Haram - Minimoog and EWI
Harriet Riley - Marimba, snare and bass drum
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