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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of 8 via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
Except 01:33
2.
3.
4.
Avatar 04:31
5.
BNND WDTH 04:12
6.
Bitter Lake 04:18
7.
8.
9.
10.
U Turn 01:23
11.
12.
Expect 03:05

about

El Hardwick's debut album, 8, explores an alternative cyberspace at the crossroads of climate and digital justice. Originally imagined as a sci-fi graphic novel back in 2016, over the following three years 8 expanded into a concept album. Combining photography with poetry and song, Hardwick spins a cautionary tale in which technocrats advise a social elite to give up their bodies, upload their minds to a server, and migrate into cyberspace. Those the algorithm deems less worthy are left behind on a depleted earth. In response, a group of cyber-hackers attempts to destroy the servers, and those in power declare war. Channeled through Hardwick’s vaporous falsetto, 8 unfolds along two paths: the A-side builds, while the B-side destroys.

Recalling their writing process, Hardwick shares: “ The stories are always where my projects begin […] Telling this story through science fiction felt like a way for me to examine the magnitude of various interconnected political crises, whilst also having the space to tell parallel personal narratives through the voices of other characters.” In embracing the perspective of several alter egos, Hardwick seeks the other, untold story of what it means to have a self, to live and be: “ 8 not only visually represents infinity, but two infinite loops on top of each other: multiplicities, alternatives. We can be trapped in cycles of behaviour, but we can also look to ecology and learn from non-linear conceptions of being.”

Influenced by cyberpunk fiction and cult sci-fi novelist Ursula K Le Guin, 8 imagines healing the planet through these non-linear narratives. Its diverse perspectives undermine patriarchal power, constructs of good versus evil, and Techno-Heroic themes. Hardwick invites their listener to break the loop of despair by exploring the ecological shift of our times: “As the climate crisis worsens, technocratic solutions are in direct opposition to IRL grassroots community organising that connects us to the land and to each other. 8 imagines abandoning our bodies and Earth, to live in a digital realm, as a cautionary tale about our loss of relationship to the planet.”

In the shimmering ‘Bitter Lake’, Hardwick reflects on grief, which “unlike apathy, is a necessary reaction to what is happening to our earth — because in grief, there’s a relationship that recognises real loss.” The track has a spiritual energy that moves between hope and grief, using the beautiful but toxic sea anemone as a metaphor for our relationship with the planet.

‘Ration Without Reason’, ‘Tidal’ and ‘Expect’ delve into personal territory. For Hardwick, these three tracks “are individually about heartbreak, and painful realisations about my desires and needs in a relationship — but when played in the context of the album, they become ecological love songs addressing my relationship with capitalism.” Track 8, ‘Vanishing Point’, captures the tipping point at which one person’s creation becomes someone else's destruction: “this destruction is not only irreversible, but it's a reenactment of damage that has taken place in history before.”

A prominent photographer in the music industry, Hardwick has constantly expanded their talents, from co-curating a zine on shapeshifting and hosting shows of young women photographers, to DJing as Moonbow at queer raves. They recently launched a new series of projects, titled Desire Lines , with a compilation in support of QueerCare . Last year, Hardwick banded with Discwoman affiliate Ciel, who remixed the album’s 5th track “BNND WDTH” for a 12” single, released on West Friends label under Hardwick's Moonbow moniker.

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The vinyl edition is accompanied by a 40-page booklet, with each track on the album complemented by a photograph and poem written by Hardwick. The photographs, which are a celebration of ecology and sci-fi aesthetics, were taken in collaboration with fellow photographers Chrissie White, Clara Pathe and Justina Goldbeck. They were shot in 2018 amongst desert hoodoos carved by oceans millions of years ago, and a dying forest consisting of one of the world’s oldest living organisms.

All digital album downloads come with a PDF of the accompanying booklet.

credits

released November 20, 2020

All tracks written and produced by El Hardwick, and recorded at home and at The Rising Sun.

Guitar in ‘Poison of Planet’ by Cardinal Fang. Additional beats and production in ‘Vanishing Point’ by Conrad Kira. Flute in 'Vanishing Point' by Elliott Arndt. Additional synths and production in 'CTRL ALTernative Delete' by Sim Hutchins. Additional beats in 'Tidal' by MX World.

All tracks mixed by Dominic Clare at Declared Sound, apart from Avatar, Bitter Lake & Vanishing Point, which were mixed & feature additional programming by Marta Salogni for Solar Management Ltd. Mastering by Heba Kadry. Vinyl mastering by Noel Summerville.

Photography by El Hardwick, Chrissie White, Clara Pathe and Justina Goldbeck. Writing by El Hardwick. Design and layout by Samara Jundi. Art direction by Gareth Horner.

Booklet printed by ExWhyZed on FSC approved paper. The reusable clear sleeve means that this vinyl is not wrapped in single use plastic.

El Hardwick gratefully acknowledges support from PRS for Music Foundation's Open Fund.

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El Hardwick London, UK

El Hardwick (they / them) is a multidisciplinary artist, musician and curator. Identifying as trans non-binary, their work explores queer world making practices and how we can heal on a damaged planet.

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