''Soused'' is a collaborative album between singer Scott Walker and

experimental metal Avant-garde metal (also known as avant-metal, experimental metal, and experimental) is a subgenre of heavy metal music loosely defined by use of experimentation and innovative, avant-garde elements, including non-standard and unconventional soun ...

band

Sunn O))) Sunn O))) (pronounced "sun") is an American experimental metal band formed in 1998 in Seattle, Washington. The band is known for their distinctive visual style and slow, heavy sound, which blends diverse genres including doom metal, drone, bla ...

. Announced in early 2014 by 4AD, the album was produced by Walker and Peter Walsh with the help of Mark Warman and released on October 21, 2014. It is the last album Walker released during his lifetime, barring

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

work. 4AD released a music video for the song "Brando", directed by French filmmaker Gisèle Vienne.

Production and recording

Sunn O))) songwriters

Stephen O'Malley Stephen O'Malley (sometimes referred to as SOMA; born July 15, 1974) is an American guitarist, producer, composer, and visual artist from Seattle, Washington, who has conceptualized and participated in numerous drone doom, death/doom, and exper ...

and Greg Anderson had previously contacted Walker about contributing vocals to ''

Monoliths & Dimensions ''Monoliths & Dimensions'' is the sixth studio album by drone metal band Sunn O))). The album was created and recorded over a period of two years and features the collaborations of composer Eyvind Kang, Australian guitar player Oren Ambarchi, Hun ...

'' in 2009, but Walker declined due to prior engagements. While developing material for his follow up record to 2012's ''

Bish Bosch ''Bish Bosch'' is the fourteenth and final solo studio album by American singer Scott Walker (singer), Scott Walker. It was released on 3 December 2012 on 4AD. Walker described it as the final installment in a trilogy that also includes ''Tilt ( ...

'', Walker reached out to the band. Walker's decision to incorporate drones came about while developing lyrics. As the singer-composer stated, "I could get those gaps, you see, between phrases. Which I usually fill with silence, but now I had the drones." Upon agreeing to collaborate, Walker sent O'Malley and Anderson a series of wordless demos of tracks he produced, alongside Peter Walsh, made entirely with synthesizers. With the synthesizers, Walker directly outlined the instrumental accompaniments that O'Malley and Anderson were to provide via guitar drones. To record Sunn O)))'s guitar drones, the band brought its entire stage equipment, a large collection of amplifiers, to Walker's London studio space. Walker initially wanted to name the album ''Ronronner'', French for "purr", "like the noise a big cat would make"; but O'Malley, who lives in France, believed that French audiences would read it as "too cute". Walker then came up with ''Soused'', with the intended meaning of being submerged in water.

Reception

Track listing

The physical packaging of the vinyl and the digital listings on various streaming services use the track names "Brando" and "Fetish", but the lyrics in the liner notes include alternative titles "Brando (Dwellers on the Bluff)" and "Fetish (Flip'n'Zip)".

CD and digital editions

#"Brando (Dwellers on the bluff)" – 8:42 #"Bull" – 9:21 #"Herod 2014" – 11:59 #"Fetish (Flip'n'Zip)" – 9:08 #"Lullaby" – 9:22

Vinyl LP edition

Side one #"Brando (Dwellers on the bluff)" – 8:42 #"Bull" – 9:21 Side two #

"Herod 2014" – 11:59 Side three #

"Fetish (Flip'n'Zip)" – 9:08 #"Lullaby" – 9:22

Personnel

* Greg Anderson – guitars, percussion guitar on "Bull", lead guitar on "Lullaby" *Tos Nieuwenhuizen – lead guitar (except for "Bull"); moog on "Brando", "Bull", and "Lullaby"; riff guitar on "Fetish" *

– guitars, bass guitar on "Brando" and "Fetish", feedback guitar on "Bull" and "Fetish", lead guitar on "Bull" and "Herod 2014", percussion guitar on "Bull", re-amped hi synth on "Lullaby", sleeve design, type * Scott Walker – vocals, production, composer, drum programming on "Lullaby", mixing

Additional personnel

* Dot Allison – backing vocals on "Bull" *Frank Arkwright – mastering *

Guy Barker Guy Jeffrey Barker, (born 26 December 1957) is an English jazz trumpeter and composer. Early life Barker was born in Chiswick, London, the son of an actress and a stuntman. He started playing the trumpet at the age of twelve, and within a year ...

– trumpet (except "Herod 2014") *G'ast Bouschet – cover photo, photography *Andy Findon – saxophone on "Herod 2014" *Peter Gamble – bull whips on "Brando" *Phil Laslett – photography *Liam Nolan – assistant *Simon Saywood – analog technical support *Ian Thomas – drums (except "Herod 2014") * Peter Walsh – co-production, recording, mixing, electronic sound treatment, audio manipulation keyboards fx (except "Lullaby"), drum programming (except "Fetish"), mastering *Sam Walsh – backing vocals on "Bull" *Mark Warman – electronic sound treatment, audio manipulation, keyboards, drum programming on "Brando" and "Herod 2014", shaker on "Fetish", musical direction, orchestration Credits adapted from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

References

{{Authority control 2014 albums 4AD albums Albums produced by Peter Walsh Albums produced by Scott Walker (singer) Collaborative albums Scott Walker (singer) albums Sunn O))) albums