Heavenly Stems is the first solo project of electronic producer Ben Rimmer, founding member and producer of Oxford band Trophy Wife. Following a remix of Lake Turner (Algebra/Kompakt)’s ‘1990’, Florals and Shell mark the first solo releases from Heavenly Stems, working both independently and as the first two steps of a larger body of work, each unfurling a shimmering tapestry of off-kilter rhythms, haunting soundscapes and yearning strings. The music falls to its own rhythm, like a drifting signal from pirate radio beacons bobbing on the bay. Turbulent sub threatens beneath layers of bristling electronics, lifting piano, then violins, as the listener is drawn deeper into ever-shifting imagined landscapes.

Heavenly Stems is born of Ben’s love of sample culture and electronica, and a desire to produce in a way that brings all the feel of live performance into the recording process. Each track is constructed from live takes, sampled, manipulated, re-sampled and re-performed, resulting in a familiar-yet-estranged arrangement. The tactile nature of the composition maintains an arm’s length from the safety of the grid, each beat falling elsewhere but somehow just where it needs to be.

Florals and Shell owe much to pioneering inspirations such as J Dilla, Jon Hopkins and Burial; however, these tracks were also penned as expressions of admiration for trees. Taking a moment to break from the path, the record pulls to another quiet corner of existence, outside, away from the street although still in earshot; heading onward into the dense undergrowth and marvelling at the interconnectedness of it all.

Florals begins with a fleeting memory in Take (featuring Swedish composer Ljudvägg) before the boisterous title track Florals kicks in with misshapen beats and sun-warped synth. A feather-light piano refrain drifts in and out of focus, leading to a crescendo of skittish rhythm and countermelody. Summit conjures the clear air of the mountain top, swirling around in ebbs and eddies, faltering and falling back to give way to Link, akin to Florals in its energy and five-leggedness while introducing a more sample-driven note. Fall closes the EP in a heady mix of piano loops, strings and glitches, and features Italian composer Paulo Cattaneo.

Shell opens with Scintilla, an urgent, kinetic piece. A distant signal is picked up as Overstory gathers pace building ominously, suddenly igniting into a tension that evokes catching a train that is already in motion. Roiling, fizzing synths and drops bring the piece to a simmer before rolling away again on the wind. The Only Thing Happening, midway point of the record, arrives as if emanating from the stereo of a passing car, all driven sub and hazy vocals. The title track Shell rises out of the birdsong that follows, tracing itself into existence in a knot of winding tape and vocals. All at once it breaks like a cresting wave, shingle crashing together as the beat hits, pushed forward onto the beach and pulled back into the surf. Shell ends on Last Year, a bright composition of loops and cello which swells to a fever pitch of cacophony and dies away, hanging on a final note and farewell of songbirds.

The artwork for the EPs is based on interpretations of the landscapes imagined in the music and mirrors the simultaneously constructive and destructive methods used in the record’s composition.

The EPs were mastered by LA based producer Leo Shulman aka Somni.

Typography by João Pedro Fonseca.

P + C Algebra Records 2021