If you take a glance at Fennesz’s solo discography, you’ll see that his last genuine full-length album (in other words, not a score to a film, and not an extremely limited collection of samples), Black Sea (TMT Review), was released back in 2008. Clearly, in the intervening years, the Austrian ambient guitarist has just been taking it easy, shifting his focus to a relaxing hiatus in the scenic Villgratental, while casually neglecting the desperate pleas from his fans for new material.
Totally wrong! Did you believe me? Where have you been? Is Ace of Base still popular there? Do I need to direct you to the TMT reviews of his recent collaborative albums here and here?
The point being, Fennesz has neither been “taking it easy” nor “relaxing,” despite his ongoing (and apparent) lack of enthusiasm for individual releases. That enthusiasm waxes a bit with the news that, on October 1, he’ll be releasing a new 12-inch called Fa 2012. I say “new,” but it’s essentially a remix album, consisting of two new versions of the track “Fa” (one by Fennesz himself and the other from Mark Fell), which originally appeared on Fennesz’s debut solo album Hotel Paral.lel, released back in 1997.
Perhaps more importantly, Editions Mego describes the 12-inch as a “warm up for the new Fennesz album, which is currently scheduled for 2013 release.” Get excited now; the man deserves your undivided appreciation, even if he is so rarely undivided.
• Fennesz: http://www.fennesz.com
• Editions Mego: http://editionsmego.com