DAVID TORN: pioneering guitarist announces new double LP ‘now i imagine a place not the same’, out May 29 on Kou Records. Hear first single.

DAVID TORN - Announces new double LP   ‘now i imagine a place not the same’ - Pioneering experimental guitarist’s first solo album release for over a decade - Out May 29 on Kou Records - New single “its own dimension” online now - Special guest for Sunn O))) in New York on April 12

Photo credit: Peter Gannushkin (click for high res) David Torn announces ‘now i imagine a place not the same’, an expansive and deeply personal new double LP out May 29 via Kou Records - a rare late-career statement from one of experimental music’s most singular voices. Alongside the announcement, Torn shares the album’s first single, “its own dimension”, and news of a special live performance supporting Sunn O))) at Town Hall, New York on April 12 and solo performance at Roulette, New York on June 24 in celebration of Kou Records. Across decades of boundary-pushing work in experimental music, improvisation, and film, Torn has continually redefined the expressive possibilities of the electric guitar. ‘now i imagine a place not the same’ feels less like a conventional release than a fully immersive listening experience — unfolding in long-form movements shaped by texture, space, and emotional depth. Intimate yet expansive, the album moves between fractured melody, dense atmospherics, and moments of stark quiet, capturing Torn at his most distilled and exploratory. Recorded by Randall Dunn and Chris Bittner and mixed and produced by Dunn, the album places a strong emphasis on sonic environment and duration, allowing Torn’s intricate signal processing and improvisational language to fully breathe. Released as part of Kou Records’ artist-driven cohort model — which prioritises process, collaboration, and long-term artistic development — it stands as both a continuation and a deepening of Torn’s singular practice. The physical edition of the record is accompanied by a series of original paintings by illustrator Arik Roper, whose work appears across the front cover, gatefold interior, and a commissioned portrait of Torn. The record also includes a concrete poem written by Stephen O’Malley in honor of Torn, alongside liner notes by Randall Dunn reflecting on the sessions that shaped the recording. A first look at the record comes with today’s single “now i imagine a place not the same”, an expressive, journeying track embodying the vivid atmospherics that characterise the record. Speaking on the track, Torn offers: “sitting on a globe alone in complete darkness, i’m suddenly shaken to wake to the crackling struggle of The Gazillion Things, bold-facing reality as unreality; “flash!!!”, and then i be somehow compelled to nose-dive into a threateningly strange stream of no-thing… nothing. and i’m gone, gone to where there is no time, no predictions of pulse, until… …my hearing returns to me first and only, i hear an impossibly distant song sung in voices of liquids, rising and falling and creeping and retreating as if tidal: so? so, somehow i begin to fall-as-if-pushed through dimension and undimension, and - once again, i sit alone - but this darkness is irregular & sparkling and ineffably “complete”, and as i relax into its cooling oxygen & warm heart, i imagine i’m looking directly into the face of the blue hero of ancient myth.” Listen to “its own dimenson”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wgV6d-LWKo Other “now i imagine a place not the same” streaming & pre-order links: https://lnk.to/L2HNPX ‘now i imagine a place not the same’ revisits the raw electricity of Torn’s early processing language while carrying it forward with the perspective of decades of exploration. Visceral yet weightless, it deepens his long-standing dialogue between alternate tunings, looping systems, and touch-sensitive electronics. Melody, noise, and atmosphere move through one another in a continuously shifting field of tone.   A pioneering figure in electric guitar processing, Torn has exerted a quiet but far-reaching influence on both film scoring and contemporary electro-acoustic music. In addition to his own scores, he has made formative creative contributions to works by Carter Burwell, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Cliff Martinez, Howard Shore, and Mark Isham. Across these collaborations, his guitar language helped shape a cinematic vocabulary that feels atmospheric, psychological, and texturally alive.   Beyond film, Torn’s presence spans an unusually broad range of artists, including David Bowie, Madonna, John Legend, Tori Amos, k.d. lang, Don Cherry, Bill Bruford, Tony Levin, and David Sylvian. His recordings for ECM Records further defined an immersive, spatial approach to processed guitar that continues to resonate across generations.   Tracked in close collaboration with Dunn, the sessions privilege immediacy and physical presence. Each piece unfolds as composition-minded improvisation, with Torn treating everything within reach as musical material: strings, pickups, amplifiers, external electronics, voice, resonant surfaces, and the surrounding space itself. As Torn writes:   “My approach to these peri-composerly improvisations was pretty basic: everything in my view, grasp, and reach became an instrument for tone and feeling. Strings, pickups, electronics, the amplifiers, even a stone or two — anything could enter the music. Sometimes a sound would appear suddenly; sometimes an accident or interruption would open the door. The important thing was trusting that shape and feeling would emerge, and following it until the music revealed itself whole.”   Rather than composing toward fixed outcomes, Torn allows form to emerge through feedback and repetition, absorbing intended and unintended sounds into a living structure. Foundational tools from his formative processing years — alternate tunings, looping logic, tube saturation — return not as nostalgia but as active materials. Intimate yet expansive, now i imagine a place not the same captures an artist fully inhabiting his singular language: melodic, exploratory, and grounded in touch and electricity. It is not a retrospective glance backward, but a declaration in the present tense. Tour dates: April 12th - Town Hall, NYC supporting Sunn O))) June 24th - Roulette, NY (Tickets)    ‘now i imagine a place not the same’ track list: 1. ice-shock cold of illusion (06:33) 2. shapes of newborn warming stars (05:56) 3. the red door #1 (01:50) 4. its own dimension (05:09) 5. within dimension behind dimension (05:10) 6. inconclusive (03:47) 7. the road (past the beehive) to the river (08:38) 8. when the birds flock 'round my head (06:42) 9. gold and its oxide (07:41) 10. bones of home, fly east... (11:27) 11. the (once green) red door #2 (08:18) ‘now i imagine a place not the same’ album artwork by Arik Roper:   About Kou Records: Kou Records — named for the Chinese word for “mouth” — is dedicated to artists who have developed singular musical languages. Across generations, the label celebrates musicians whose work reflects deep curiosity, wide-ranging influences, and a commitment to personal expression beyond market conventions.   Central to Kou’s approach is the recording process itself. Over concentrated studio sessions with producer and engineer Randall Dunn, artists develop and record material in real time, prioritizing performance, improvisation, and minimal post-editing. The result is a body of recordings that feel immediate, collaborative, and unconstrained by era.   Each vinyl release also features a commissioned portrait of the artist by illustrators and underground comix artists, reflecting the label’s ongoing dialogue between visual art and music.   Founded by Charmaine Lee & Randall Dunn in 2025. Mastering and Dolby Atmos Mixes by Ben Greenberg at Circular Ruin.   Links: www.kourecords.com https://davidtornmusic.com/ https://www.instagram.com/davidmtorn https://www.facebook.com/splattercell https://davidmtorn.bandcamp.com/album/now-i-imagine-a-place-not-the-same