Last year, the English duo Ultimate Painting broke up in the middle of the rollout for a new album, citing “an irreconcilable breakdown.” As a result, the album didn’t even come out. Now, former Ultimate Painting member Jack Cooper has formed another group called Modern Nature whose members include Will Young of BEAK> and Aaron Neveu of Woods. According to a press release, Cooper conceptualized the band name while visiting the late filmmaker Derek Jarman’s home on the coast of Kent, noting “a weird mix or urban and rural” where the cottage resides.

Today, Modern Nature are announcing their debut album How To Live and sharing a video for lead single “Peradam.” The black-and-white clip shows a studio session in-progress, intercut with shots of Cooper mouthing whispered lyrics. The rhythmic pacing feels dualistic–warm guitar plucks and building saxophones intermingling with steady shaker percussion.

Cooper expands on some of the album’s themes in a statement:

Broadly speaking, the album moves from an urban environment at the beginning to an escape at the end…whether that’s solitude or acceptance or isolation. At the beginning the songs reflect a different type of isolation, the sort of isolation or disassociation one can only feel in a very crowded, hectic environment.

Watch “Peradam” below.

TRACKLIST
01 “Bloom”
02 “Footsteps”
03 “Turbulence”
04 “Criminals”
05 “Seance”
06 “Nightmares”
07 “Peradam”
08 “Oracle”
09 “Nature”
10 “Devotee”

TOUR DATES
07/26 – Cornwall, UK @ Port Eliot Festival
08/18 – Brecon Beacons, UK @ Green Man Festival
09/14 – Flintshire, UK @ Good Life Experience

How To Live is out 8/23 via Bella Union. Pre-order it here.

CREDIT: James Sharp