Global Communication’s Tom Middleton is returning with a new solo project entitled GCOM, and he will release his E2-XO album on October 29th via !K7 Records. In anticipation of the upcoming effort, Middleton has a frenetic new single, “XO 4 (Wolf 1061c).” Global Communication, the project which joined the musician with fellow electronic artist Mark Pritchard, received the reprint treatment in 2020 when Warp Records reissued their ambient masterpiece 76:14. Middleton’s rebrand of the project for the 21st century continues GC’s concern for a technologically durable art informed by planetary stewardship and concern for humanity’s continued evolution. Still, on E2-XO, we find Middleton looking to habitable exoplanets in lieu of Earth’s impending calamities.
The sound artist’s forthcoming album is also informed by his interest in sleep science, which has led him to a Neuroscience and Psychology Masters program at Goldsmiths College, where he researches the treatment of stress, anxiety, and sleep disruption. These studies have led to new advances in Middleton’s sound as scientific knowledge provides further insight into an electronic music form that can exist beyond the dance floor. E2-XO is imagined as a “space opera,” dramatizing humanity’s advances into outer space. On “XO 4 (Wolf 1061c),” an exploratory drone cube arrives at an exoplanet candidate only to observe two rival alien factions engaged in a territorial battle. The cinematic track pits otherworldly ambiance against a wicked onslaught of Jungle tweaked percussion.
